WAAGH! Drillteef

Knight House Draco has been in active deployment along the Draconis March from Terra to the Eye of Terror throughout the course of the Indomitus Crusade. Their combined forces have met stiff resistance regardless of how far they stray from the Cicatrix Maledictum, for their charge is to seek and eliminate the incursion of powerful Chaos entities wherever they emerge. Indeed, the house's long history of combating powerful Daemonic threats has been a boon to the Imperium in these warzones. Loretta Colbert and her mount, Knight Warden Maleficent, have hunted the frontier of the Cicatrix Maledictum for decades. When the old king was deposed as a result of his death at the hands of a trio of Bloodthirsters a decade ago, the Scions of House Draco voted unanimously to raise her as the High Queen of Draconis Noctum. Loretta is more mild-mannered than her predecessor. She is more thoughtful. However, she still prefers to engage directly with the enemy rather than lead from a rearguard...

I was listening to the Combined Arms Podcast today and I was inspired by their topic on activation in wargames . It got me thinking about the many ways alpha strikes have been a difficult thing to overcome in the new edition and how some form of alternating activation could alleviate that.  Right now it feels a lot like 5th edition in that regard where the Imperial Guard alpha strike or the Ork Nob beta strike was a nasty way to end a game early. My caveat here is that the game is still very fun; more fun out of the box than it has been in years. I still argue that 7th edition was extremely fun with a solid social contract, but Matched Play 8th Edition is the most fun the game has been sans-tweaks in years. This is in no small part due to Games Workshop's active role in (competitive) Matched Play. What is it Good For? I feel as if Alternating Activation would be best suited for Narrative gaming . It takes longer and requires more think time than I Go You Go. The way I...

I'm back with another video post about my adventures with the ITC terrain series . This time, I'm putting together a couple of tables' worth of the ITC Orc Terrain. This first video discusses building the terrain. Future videos will talk about modifying and supplementing terrain, then painting it. I had a real blast putting this terrain together. I think you'll find it extremely easy and customizable, especially at the price point offered by Frontline Gaming. I was so impressed that I immediately ordered two more Orc Strongholds . You can expect another video as soon as those kits arrive and I get them built because the Goldensprue Cup GT is right around the corner and we really need the terrain!

I'm bringing all three of my original Boomgunz to the Beef & Wing Brawl and wanted a fourth, so this weekend I did repaints on all of my old tanks and did a build & paint on a new one. Original paint: WiP: Completed Models:

This was one of the first models I ever painted. It's going to be in my list for the upcoming Beef & Wing event, so I thought it deserved a new paintjob. Here's What it used to look like: I've been practicing my list a great deal and this is the current iteration of the list. I've really been trying to avoid having a "Big Bad" that someone will target with massed shooting. The Mek Gun crew are great, little objective-holders considering they're treated like Characters for a much reduced price. Kaptin Badrukk has been over-performing for me recently and I decided to add him for the hell of it. Also, I'm looking forward to teleporting him behind enemy lines and killing the character of an unwary opponent with him. The general strategy is to hold back and use the cannons to eliminate any deepstrike buffers the enemy may have. Turn 2, bring in one unit of Kommandos and Jump a large unit of boyz for a big assault. With 8 command p...

Reivers are a natural fit for the Star Eagles' Combat Doctrine. The II Company rarely attempts an engagement without one or two squads of these murderers.

So, I've been inexorably drawn into a new Star Eagles project thanks to the new edition of Warhammer 40,000. I love these models and couldn't help but stick some together and slather some paint on them. Of course, now I'm wondering what I ought to do with their Chapter Tactics now that the new Space Marines Codex has been released. Although the 2nd Company has always been the "Codex" face of the Chapter, they're still very much true Star Eagles. They are still engineered from the Yanchi stock in order to correct the Raven Guard geneseed somewhat. For this reason, their Combat Doctrines are much the same as that of other Star Eagles Battle Companies. They are deployed in extreme environments where other Astartes with the Raven Guard geneseed would be unable to operate. The 2nd Company are also still the followers of the Vita Kunde, the Pulse of Battle. Where the Ravenguard excel in subtlety, the Star Eagles specialize in lightning hit and run tactics...

The Star Eagles call their Librarians "Mganga" which loosely translates to "Savior of Souls". The term is not limited to Astartes Librarians alone, however. Many individuals from the Star Eagles' Chapter World are skilled at the capturing of a soul, or Masheha , at the moment of its body's death. However, the responsibility of an Astartes Mganga is greater than that of any common mortal, for the Star Eagles are the brave defenders of the long histories and traditions of the Yanchi. Unfortunately for Mganga Vurugu, he has been assigned to II Company, the public face of the Star Eagles. None of the Astartes assigned to the 2nd Company are aware that the Masheha tradition even exists except for Vurugu. The Company exists simply to keep up appearances for the rest of the Imperium. With the emergence of the Cicatrix Maledictum, however, the 2nd Company has been completely shut off from the rest of the Chapter. As the decades have passed, Mganga Vurugu has ...

There has been some hand-wringing in regards to alpha strikes in the competitive community. This is understandable, if I'm keeping it 100. I offer up the following for playtesting. 1CP - Go to Ground -  Stratagem Use this stratagem at the start of your opponent's shooting phase. Pick one of your infantry units. That unit is treated as being in cover even if all of its models are not in cover. If that unit is already in cover, it is treated as being completely obscured instead. The effects of this stratagem last until the start of your next turn. 1CP - Hull Down - Stratagem Use this stratagem at the start of your opponent's shooting phase. Pick one of your vehicle units. If that unit is partially obscured from any firing units, but not by 50%, then it is treated as 50% obscured. If that unit is already 50% obscured, it is treated as being completely obscured instead. The effects of this stratagem last until the start of your next turn. 6CP - Defensive Position -...

Another freehand commission. The fact that I couldn't clear coat today means there was a lot of glare in these photos. You get the gist of it, though.

The Emperor's Children have always intrigued me. I've also always wanted to do a "motley" style paint scheme with fun models.  This is the start of that project. In the next squad, I hope to experiment with more patterns such as animal and floral prints, checkers, and tartan. Behold! Perry Navaro and his band, Fulgrim's Addiction! (be sure to click for zooming) Soundwaves as unit designation because any other method of unit designation would be absolute folly.