Friends With Models

My friend (his blog is here : http://eyeofisha.blogspot.com/ ) has been working on a new Chaos lord for his new Night Lords army.  I've threatened this before: if you send me pictures, I might just post them on this sleeply little blog.

A night lord champion, I'm guessing, with twin lightning claws.  A nice predator-esque pose.

His new Chaos Lord, also with the twin lightning claws.

The Martyred Detachment

Marines Errant division 802, nicknamed "The Forced March."  Stranded for an indeterminate time upon the Words Peninsula.

Minotaurs. Hell-bent upon capturing the Words, advance with a strong front of Terminators joined by an Inquisitor.  The Relic they sought laid upon the body of the slain Tyrant Klaeser in the War Podium.

Minotaur Predator and Dreadnaught, making a dart for their left...

...to make way for the advancing tacticals.

Marines Errant deploy defensively, in cover.

Minotaur servo-skulls had appeared the vicinity of the Errants but gone unnoticed. 

Minotaur Terminators dash into the ruins to secure the relic.

To meet the Terminators at the Relic Site:  The Marines Errant Venerable Dreadnaught, Evros.  The portrait of the Tyrant Klaeser still visible above his grave.

Minotaur Inquisitor and accompanying Terminators wade into the building to meet Evros.

Errant Tacticals respond.  Thad Allen leads his Reactionary Team into the fray.

Tactical Doctrine.

After the firefight.

If there were to be heroes today, it would be the ones who stood bravely and pointed at one another.

Sgt. Green leads his plasma team through the ruins to the west of the podium, advancing cautiously, awaiting the signal.

Maines pour from every hull.  The Tactical Doctrine is successful against the Terminators, yet the Inquisitor still stands.

Combat Squad Orange advances into the Ruin, a Lascannon sweeping for targets.

Minotaurs respond.  Tacticals begin to flood the structure as well.

Fierce firefights at close range ensue.

Errants reposition.  Devastator Squad takes point.

Chronos advances upfield, but fails to break the enemy lines.

Errants swarm from their transports, pouring fire into the podium.

Things begin to break apart.  Dreadnaughts find themselves hobbled by melta fire.

The Marines Errant find themselves outclassed in assault.

A challenge...

... a result.

The Minotaur Tacticals scoot to the roof, and secure the relic there.

Kill Team Battle Report: NCG 1

This is the first battle report from the Narrative Gamer's Club, a 500-point Kill Team game between Marines Errant and Ravenguard Marines.  The mission for the Ravenguard was to break through the Errant lines, the Errants were to kill as many of them as possible.  We rolled for traits, Sgt. Thad Allen got "Been There Done That (Counter Attack)", Gunner Forshot got "Ignores Cover" for his Missile Launcher and Mr. Farnsworth was a Guerrila fighter capable of Fleet of Foot.  Assistant Gruner had "Feel No Pain." 

Report THRT / JA9:  Sgt. Thad Allen's Reactionary Team

A report prepared in coordination with Sgt. Thad Allen regarding an encounter when on patrol with the Tactical Insertion Formation JA9.  

 The composition of the formation was as follows:

Sgt. Allen's Reactionary Team was equipped with a powerfist and a bolt pistol.  His squad was comprised of his primary assistant Gruner, A. Journes, and R. Baflae and Gunner Forshot.  Providing support: Sgt. Soolo's "Rooters."  The Rooters were comprised of Sgt. Soolo with a plasma pistol and chainsword, accompanied by Mr. Farnsworth with a flamer, Sir Aachen, Sir DePorres, and Sir Sussman.

The combined teams formed the Tactial Insertion Formation JA9 (TIFJA9).

The formation was conducting a sweep upon the industrial zones west of the base of Hive 65 (abandoned).  The soot from the ash fires that have been lit by Jordaan gangs obscured most sight, and it is still not entirely determined what caused the firefight to occur.  However, it is safe to say that another force was encountered and it is assumed that was of Imperial origin; the friendly-fire event is currently under investigation, and measures are being taken that it does not happen as easily again.  Communications on this level are excluded from this report.

The report follows:

Sgt. Thad Allen and two squad members lead the sweep across the industrial complex.

Gunnery Forshot had taken up a position upon the ramps, Assistant Gruner had just relayed survey information to Sgt. Soolo behind him.

The Ravenguard scouts sprint across the rubble.

Advancing quickly, they were first seen by the Errant Marines at point-blank range.

The Errants in spread formation.

In the first few moments of the encounter, all Errants in the formation fire upon the Ravenguard scouts, yet no damage was scored.

Assistant Gruner takes up position behind a loading ramp as the bullets begin to fly.  A Grav-Gun force is detected, fired by Balon, but does not affect Gruner's armor adversely.  All scrap filings around him, however, are balled into bearing-sized nuggets.

Roe leads the charge.   Sir Sussman returns fire to no avail.

Balon and Suhngrave move in to engage Asst. Gruner.

Gunner Forshot takes aim, but fails to connect with missiles.

Wayne connects with a bolt pistol to Sgt. Soolo, he falls out of action.

As the battle progressed, Assistant Gruner was found to have stood his ground for a good amount of time, eventually knocking down Sgt. Balon with a hail of accurate bolter-fire.  

Aire and Solen fling themselves through the gout of flame spilling out from Mr. Farnsworth.  Steeling themselves they spring into assault, tying up the flamethrower from firing again.

The inevitable happens- it is difficult to fight with a flamethrower against close-combat armed opponents.  Mr. Farnsworth falls to Aire and Solen.

Sir Sussman takes a good shot and fells Talvus, but is soon knocked out of action by Roe. 

Airie pops out from the cover of darkness and engages Sgt. Allen.  The Marine Sergeant begins to curse the Scouts and question their motives. 

"I'll deal with you next!" Sgt. Allen defeats Airie, and prepares for Solen's charge.

Gunner Forshot, still looking for upfield enemies, fails to see the threat coming from behind...

...and his missile launcher is quickly silenced by Wayne and Clayve.

 After Wayne and Clayve dropped Gunner Forshot, Thad Allen brutally injured Deekon, then fled the field to make his report.  Assistant Gruner then continued fire upon his foes, knocking down Suhngrave as well. 

While the Scouts of Ravenguard completed their mission, Gruner continued to pick away at his assailants, also wounding Wayne before the Ravenguard slipped out of sight.

Injuries:  Mr. Farnsworth sustained some major injuries, and will be kept in the Infirmartarium for an as-yet undetermined amount of time.  Mr. Sussman and Sgt. Soloo were both wounded, but have pledged that they will be able to serve through the length of their recovery, and their faith has not been shaken.  Gunner Forsight did not recover from his injuries and has been listed as a casualty.  His gene-seed was collected.

It should be noted that the infiltrators had achieved an advanced position on the Marines, and made every effort to carry their wounded with them off the area of the encounter. 

Mission results.  The Marines Errant scored 1 point for Slay the Warlord, 1 for Breaking the opponent (bringing his numbers to less than 50%, and achieving two primary objectives for the number of Ravenguard they wounded.  The Ravenguard achieved First Blood, Breaking their opponent, and three of their objectives for making it past the Errants deployment zone.  The final score was 5-4, Ravenguard.

Ur-Schleim, ref 243 J55.

Dear sirs:

What follows is a transcript recorded from the last ACFR (Ancient Catalog Fragment Review) that has been collected by our servants and distilled into a readable format regarding the files contained in packet ref243.J55.  It should be noted that over two thousand files have been recovered in this transcript and there is little doubt that extraneous fragments exist. 


Per your request, we hereby deliver the text fragment translations are as follows:

REFPRIMARY: THOMAS H. HUXLEY. 
DISTILLED STRING:  BATHYBIUS HAECKELII (315.4756)

REFSECONDARY: (000.1857) PROTOZOAN.  ALCOHOL SOLOUTION.  ALBUMINOUS.
DISTILLED STRING: ORGANIC MATTER.  BLOOD VESSELS

REFTERTIARY: (000.1857) E. HAECKEL.  PROTOPLASM (453.8) CONNECTION BETWEEN INORGANIC AND ORGANIC.  DEEMED ARCHAIC.  ALSO SEE: C.W.THOMSON (000.1869)

SPECIFIC TEXT: MYCELIUM.  THE DUKE OF ARGYLL.  

End of text and translation.

We await your decision.

Jordaan-Yarr/Lathekin/Narendra System (Cluster 55)

Jordaan-Yarr/Lathekin/Narendra System, Cluster 55

A short background of a system, requested by the NGC and delivered at the last minute by your loyal servant, Maxim Dvořáki.

Sirs:

The debris and asteroid belt that spans the area of space bound by the planets claimed by the Jordaan gang warlords and the House of Yarr, stretching through the Lathekin systems and culminating in the near-impenetrable fields owned by Narendra miners contains over 86 major planetary bodies, and a nearly countless number of asteroid and hulk detritus.  Within this belt (known heretofore as JYLN) there is a single cluster simply designated as System 55 (JYLN-55).  This cluster has been under scrutiny for some time now, and for the past ten years we find it a continually flagged by our analysis protocols as "unusually active."  This letter is to request a survey and continued surveillance of all areas of JYLN-55.  Upon your request, we will depart at once to conduct a full planetary survey and post our recommendations, to be acted upon as you see fit.

It should be noted that the JYLN-55 cluster consists of a single sun and three planetary bodies.  Two of the bodies are considered, yet are lifeless hunks of rock without any significant mining or atmospheric interest.  Therefore, when we refer to JYLN-55, we simply refer to the only planet in the cluster that carries life or any interest (for more details on this please see enclosed file).

The fall of Mercia and subsequent decline of the system.

JYLN-55 was one of the 67 shipping transfer sites that surrounded system Mercia (see ref. 127.x45 sec88) and acted as a third-tier transfer for raw ore industries.  While there were active mines upon the JYLN posts, they paled in comparison to the great hive colonies on Mercia.  You will note that just before the ork invasion of Mercia (see ref. Warboss Gobkrakka, files uploaded upon request) the center of the planet was mined through, the CSMO (Central Services Mining Operator) was compromised and Mercia literally imploded from within post-invasion.  This is the primary source of extra debris that is found in the JYLN belt.  While there always was a good amount of free matter, the detonation of the planet made travel through the belt nearly impossible for several decades as tug crews struggled to keep lanes open.

It is widely assumed by both man and ork that the ork forces of Gobkrakka precipitated the destruction of Mercia.

After the detonation of Mercia, traffic through the JYLN belt was halted and then resumed at an extremely slow pace.  Systems within the belt were cut off from supply, as the trade that they depended upon were being re-routed to other systems, some years away.  The belt that had once protected trading ships from predatory raids was now responsible for keeping those same ships away.  Even the pirates that prowled the region moved on, creating a very quiet system indeed.

On the planets' surface, however, things degraded rapidly.  JYLN-10, -15, and -33 were overrun by insurgent Jordaan nationals, eventually crushing their local governments until they were hastily surrounded and pacified by Imperial troops.  JYLN-55 was no exception, as the tyrant Klaeser was to come to power, oust the Imperial Governors, burn the Ministry Houses and declare war upon the rest of the Sectors. However, house Ecale (for apparently classified reasons) had large interests in the Ministries of 55.  While the Klaeser rebellion surged - a Slaan Cult rose to capture large slums in three of the mining hives - the Imperium held a tight grip upon JYLN-55.  It became a small beacon of light in a range of stars that were slowly dimming into the darkness of chaos and xenos.

While the surrounding systems fell into disorder, all forms of serious rebellion and heresy were roped under control in JYLN-55.  Even as House Lathekin was reduced to a few derelict vessels and Narendra Company was disbanded before being captured by orks, the tyrant Klaeser was hung from the walls of the Tech Ministry on JYLN-55 to signal the end of the heresy.

Part of the reason why JYLN-55 still holds Imperial influence is that recent events have shown the Marines Errant, following their tradition with the Covenant of Ecale, have taken JYLN-55 under their wing. They have placed a contingent of their own marines upon the surface and have begun training idle miners into the ranks of Imperial Guardsmen.  This conscription has been wildly successful, as the majority of the population of the continents of JYLN-55 are not registered as assigned to duty in the imperial databases.  Following a nationalist fervor, the miners have been found to be extremely loyal troops who have served the Errants well.

The Ork Menace Arrives

As early as 17 months ago, a serious and vicious attack came from an unexpected sector of the JYLN belt, a Warboss under the powers of Zazdakka had invaded JYLN-55 space and made planet-fall.  The Errants were called to respond, but arrived too late; Zazdakka's minions had placed a sort of "Bio Bomb" upon the third-largest continent, Sector 7 (referred to by the local inhabitants as Sendeez, a colloquialism based upon slang terms used for both the number 7 and Slaan Cults).  Zazdakka's weaponry did JYLN-55's security forces a bit of a favor by eliminating most of the only remaining Slaan Cult factions that had been marauding unabated in abandoned Sector 7 hives.  The hives were demolished and in the wake of the destruction came a secondary invasion of Tyranids.

 It is currently under investigation, but it is believed that Zazdakka's Bio-Bomb (orkoid forms that were captured and interrogated referred to the device as Ur-Schleim, ref 243 J55) was responsible for attracting the small cluster of Tyranids, which landed and caused great havoc before folding in upon themselves and eventually being exterminated by planetary bombardment by the Errant Cruiser Entract.
 
It should be noted that upon this operation all life upon the continent Sector 7 was extinguished.  Seemingly attracted by the rotting pestilence left behind, an expeditionary force of Nurgle landed but was easily repelled by the Errant Marines waiting for them.

The Enfuego Crusade

The former Rogue Trader Miguel Quasar took part in an expedition deep into Zazdakka's Enfuego Prime to meet with Eldar pirates who supposedly held a key to the puzzle.  It is thought that the Marines Errant were deceived by the Eldar, led into a trap.  Massive numbers of the Guardsmen were lost on Enfuego, and the Errants returned to JYLN-55 battered and certainly lower in numbers.  Miguel Quasar has been accused of crimes against the Imperium.  He is assumed to have sneaked out of the system undetected and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

The orks followed the Marines Errant in their retreat back to the planet, invaded JYLN-55 again, and now occupy great sections of Sector 7, and make regular incursions into new territory.  It takes every human resource upon JYLN-55 to keep this ork force at bay and to fend off reinforcements, and for the past 2 months has been more heated than usual, seeing large numbers of orks invading from submersibles and water-borne aberrations of nature, also a possible side-effect from this Ur-Schleim Bomb. 

Eldar strike craft have been spotted within the belt as well, various reports confirm this.

Present Conditions

This brings us to the present day.  We propose sending a full survey team to the surface to determine the total number of orks left on the surface, and the reason (if there is such a thing in the orkoid mind) why they seem so interested in Sector 7.  Furthermore, it is of interest to the Imperium of the nature of the Nurgle infestation, the biology of any remaining Tyranid lifeforms, and level of control the local government holds over the populace.

With your blessing, of course.

Vital Statistics:

• Mean radius 6371 km (3981 miles)
• Average distance from nearest stellar body: 149.6 million km (93 million miles)
• Rotates on axis in 32 hrs.
• Diameter: through equator 12756.26 km (7928 miles); through poles 12713.5 km (7899 miles)
• Surface area: 510 million square km (198 million) square miles, of which about a quarter is land.
• Mass: 5.97x10²⁴ kg or 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6x10²¹) metric tons 

 JYLN-55 is composed mostly of iron (54%), oxygen (30%), silicon (14%), magnesium (0.2%), sulfur (0.3%), nickel (0.2%), calcium (0.1%), and aluminium (0.1%); with any remaining matter consisting of trace amounts of other elements.

Its atmosphere is rated as "Severely Polluted," yet current respirator technology allows up to 24-48 hours exposure with no life-threatening side-effects.

The Oceans are rated as "Toxic" and "Acidic."  Desalination for use of drinking water is prohibited by local Imperial Governors, therefore most water comes from replication/recycling units.

There many abandoned cities, hive spires and space ports that cause a great security risk amongst the local population.

There is no sustainable agriculture upon the surface.  99% of food intake is from trade or from replication/recycling units handled by Central Services.

There are seven major continents, each named a Sector number.  The world government lies upon one of the medium continents, Sector 1, but referred to locally as Yule.

At any given time there is one company of Marines Errant upon the surface, and the cruiser Entract lies in orbit with an undisclosed number on board.  While the Marines Errant tend to carry heavy weapons into battle, the conscripted security forces of the Imperial Guard they have trained are geared toward riot-suppression, carrying lighter more mobile weapons.  They are gaining a reputation for surrounding their enemies and ambushing them in brutal city warfare.  These tactics were initially used by the tyrant Klaeser and adopted into the routines of generals who have redeemed themselves in service to the Emperor.

Notable contacts of JYLN-55

Marines Errant:  Chapter Master Aldous Bruin, Master of the Forge Breiss, Librarian Lidicker

Imperial Guard: Company Commander D. Nodler,  Senior Sergeant Lawrence.
  

Orks and Nostalgia Don't Mix, Part 3

The Big Mek

 I always liked taking a new model fresh off the press and merging him with something really ancient.  This Big Mek came out after the new codex was released.  I mounted the oldest Shokk-Attack-Gun I could find on his shoulders.  I have no idea how many years apart the gun and the model are, but I could probably be safe to say that there may be 15 years between them.  A simple conversion, but I always liked him because of this.