Yes, GW have relaunched Epic. And honestly, I’m so pleased. I mean, I have no intention whatsoever of buying it, but just like I have absolutely no intention of buying a Lamborghini I still like to coo at one when it goes past.
We figured this would be likely to cause some political tensions (on our imaginary planet populated by imaginary races in an imaginary futue.. yes, we are ridiculous people) and this coincided by me acquiring some old 90’s White Dwarf PDFs from a Trove-style site (sadly defunct now :-/) and cooing at the luvverly luvverly teeny tiny Epic Blood Angels in issues 142 & 143… and getting a case of the “I wants”.
So to cool the tensions on Hazzard and to satisfy my inner child I set about stripping and repainting them, with the intent of re-creating the WD studio Blood Angels Army! And yes, I’m aware I had the same intent with the Epic Imperial Guard and Jim had the same with the Squats, but we are, as alluded to above, ridiculous people.
And so, to our ridiculous business we go.
I stripped the Warlord, Land Raiders and Rhinos in a Tupperware box using meths, THICK rubber gloves and an ancient toothbrush and once they were dry primed them white and pre-washed with thinned Vallejo Smokey Ink. Then, like their bigger cousins, they got thwo thin coats of Vallejo Hot Orange and a wash of Red Ink, before the metallic bits got based in black before drybrushing Vallejo Mithril Silver. Marine infantry got the same treatment, as did the Dreadnoughts and Robots I picked up off eBay.
So, pics so far then:
Assault detachment
Robot detachments
DreadnoughtsNo. 2 Battle Company (missing a stand, not sure where those lads have got too..)Land Raider companyNo. 9 Devastator CompanyThe full force so far
There’s a fair way to go yet, including quite a few scratchbuilt Rhinos, Vindicators and Thunderhawks but I have a fairly good idea how I’m going to do them – it’s going to be a real treat getting these lads on the tabletop!
Now, we have a slightly odd request to make to all of our friends out there in hobbyland…. we’ve been busy getting the rules for version 2.0 of Apocalypse: Earth together, and it’s looking pretty solid now. However, because we’ve both been playing the game so long we’re both a bit snow blind when it comes to writing them down and what we could really do with is a few folks who wouldn’t mind playing a few games with the rulebook as is and telling us what we’ve missed, which bits don’t make sense.. essentially helping us edit it. Obviously we’re not in a position to pay anyone but we’re happy to give everyone a mention and a good plug on the site wherever possible. So if you fancy having a crack, DM us and we’ll send you a PDF.. and you can tell us what bits we’ve stupidly missed out! All help will be appreciated, and as Future Force Warrior and Hyperian Wars are basically the same sets of ideas reskinned for sci-fi and fantasy respectively, it’s going to help all that along. The plan is that once launched, 20% of all proceeds will be going to the DEC Ukraine appeal, so hopefully we can make a difference there if only a small one.
As always, stay thrifty out there – Slavia Ukrainia – our thoughts stay with you
Apparently so.. aww, remember when we thought Donald Trump was a threat to world peace? And that Brexit was a genuine existential problem?
And so we come to 2023, having endured plague, economic catastrophe and war in Europe.. it really is true that you only realise you’re in a Golden Age after its’ gone. Still, at least it can’t get any worse, right?
RIGHT?
Anyway – we figured that a great way to wind up a pretty shitty year would be to get as far away from reality as possible, 38,000 years into the future and return once more to the world of Hazzard. Since our last scrap, we’ve added a HELL of a lot of kit to both the Ork and Imperial sides, not to mention a small contingent of Squat allies – so stay tuned, this should be a good one.
I rolled out Waagh-Bozzhog, recently reinforced with aDeath Skull clan – and of course Big Red from a few years ago – and the order of battle was thus:
Evil Sunz clan reinforced with Nobz Warbikes, Gobsmashas, Bowelburnas, Spleenrippas and Mekboy Dragster
Goff Clan reinforced with Lungburstas, Gutrippas and Skullhamma battle fortress
Bad Moon Clan reinforced with Braincrushas, Squig Catapults and Weirdboy Battletowers
Death Skull Clan reinforced with Bonebreaka and Stompas
Ork Warlord & Stompas
Slasher Gargant
“Big Red” – Great Gargant.
This lot topped out at 6,600 points, so yeah – game on!
Jim pondered and decided that after the Redeemers had taken such a kicking in their last game and it would take time to replenish their geneseed, it would be my DIY Guard and his DIY Squats taking centre stage. Standing up to the orkish horde would be:
So, with forces chosen, we rolled up a battlefield, placed objectives and had at it!
Look at all that delicious cardstockBattle lines are drawnThe Imperial coalitionMy ladz, Waagh-Bozzhog, bigger and stringer than ever!More shots of da boyzThe Hazzard 1977th prepare to roll forward on the Imperial right flank“We might need an Imperator…”With an almighty “WAAAAAAAGH!!!”, the ladz roll forwards – Goffs lead the Death Skulls with Warlord Bozzhog on the Ork left with the Slasher, Big Red anchors the centre, the Bad Moons roll into position to provide fire support and the Evil Sunz zoom off in a furious charge to take out the Squat artillery and tanksGoffs pour forward along the valley floor, Death Skulls in supportImperial armour wheels to face the Evil Sunz and protect the SquatsLeviathan faces down the Slasher as the Guard rolls into positionImperial guns open up on the charging Orks!Squat Grand Battery, Colossus and infantry all open up on the Evil Sunz, but will it be enough?
Massed fire from the Guard infantry bite into the Deathskulls and strip the power felds off the Slasher, allowing the Leviathan to administer the coup de grace!On the Imperial left, however, it’s carnage as the Breathless Vengeance falls to massed fire from the Bad MoonsEvil Sunz close assault the Squat Grand Battery, and a couple of the Guard Vindicators to bootThis ends pretty much as expectedLand Raiders & Warlord Titan combine to down Big Red, whilst the combined fire of the Bad Moons and their lethal Weirdboy Battletowers turn the town to rubble, slaughtering the Squat infantryEvil Sunz are in amongst the Imperial lines, causing havoc but taking serious losses in the processGoffs charge in as the Death Skulls retreat, whilst Warlord Bozzhog and his Stompa Mob turn their fury on to the Leviathan, destroying it utterly!Goffs assault into the woods, capturing Objective 7 from the GuardCarnage across the board! At this point Jim was keeping his Space Marines sheltered for a counterattack, having learned from previous games..Hard to say who’s winning here…
…but as it turned out, the Imperials had the good fortune to explode both the Gargants from internal fires, and had caused just enough casualties to break the remaining clans! Despite having lost a Land Raider Company, all the Squats, the Leviathan and most of the Vindicators there was still a solid core of Guard forces plus a Veteran Marine company as yet untouched… so yet again, Warlord Bozzhog’s dastardly plans have come to naught!
Jim admitted he really thought that was in the bags for the Boyz, crediting pure luck with the destruction of the Gargants, and part of me agrees woth him… ah well, all the more excuse to reset and go again! And how will the Squat community on Hazzard feel about seeing their forces massacred while the Redeemers Space Marines cowered in their Rhinos, I wonder… might have the war on Hazard taken another turn??
Still, I wanted to do Epic Squats this year, and DAMN IT, I am going to do Epic Squats!
Now, I’d already got the infantry contingent and a Grand Battery sorted, and my plan was next to tackle the Guild Bikers, but…
…
Now, if like me, Grandfather Nurgle has blessed you with asthma from an early age, you’re either dead or you’ve amassed a fair collection of these:
I’ve got a fair few of these dead inhalers floating around my Box Of Interestingly Shaped Crap, and looking at them from different angles I’ve had a few ideas for things they could be… but then I saw this pic:
And something just clicked…
5mm foamboard, 80mm x 25mm. I made two of these to be the track sections..and then trimmed them as shown aboveAttached with the magic mix of PVA (for a longer lasting and flexible bond) and superglue (for immediate grip)And now the fun begins! Tracks are chopped up IDE cables, cereal box cardboard over the track units… Superglue tube lid for mega cannon, with drinking straws for battle cannon, another drinking straw for the turret mounted defence laser.. the turret itself made from a kids juice bottle cap with the excess height sawn off. Cocktail sticks for the missiles, two calibres of drinking straws for the exhausts. Rivets were quick dry PVA dabbed on with a cocktail stick.Ain’t she purdy?? Single corrugated card for the gyrocopter launch pad on the back, another superglue tube cap for the control tower..
Primed white & preshaded with thinned Vallejo Smokey Ink, but pics have apparently been eaten by my phone.. so you’ll have to make do with these!
Main colour was Goblin Green, shaded with Army Painter Green Tone.. twice over, I think.. then a drybrush up with straight Goblin Green and a lightened version. Brass was Vallejo Mithril Silver overpainted with a cheap craft bronze, which in turn got a wash of Vallejo Skin Wash… rivets were pin washed with thinned Smokey InkThe force so far!The Breathless Vengeance towers over her kin!
So there we go, there is an upside to asthma after all – even if it is a slightly niche one! Hopefully we can get these lads into action before long, and as students of Squat lore will be aware, this chassis was also used for the Leviathan and Cyclops Titan-killer… so watch this space! And of course, I still have to figure out how to make a Gyrocopter…
Christ, that came around quick! Well, seeing as we spectacularly failed to accomplish anything Ork(c) related during last year’s #Orktober, Jim and I figured it was time to write that wrong.
And considering that we are now about to dive headlong into the Second Great Depression (according to most news sources here in the UK), it seemed like a good idea to paint the stuff we already had rather than go and do something as reckless as spending money.
Years ago, in The World That Was – in fact ye gods, I believe it was as far back as 2012 – we scored a major eBay coup and picked up a box of 2nd Ed Space Marine (or Epic, as it became known). Although there were no Eldar included, there was a healthy force of Space Marines and a ton of Orks. Jim took the Marines, and I got the greenskins, and we’ve had a good fewentertaining scraps over the years. But there were still a good chunk of Orks left over that I never got around to doing anything with, so I figured this was a good time to start.
We have here a Death Skull clan – nice and cheap and very useful, as because of their place in Ork society as thieves and looters, they can nick other clan-specific cards – Evil Sunz Gobsmashas, Goff Lungburstas and the like – which means you can tailor them nicely for whatever plan you have in mind.
Each clan can be reinforced by up to five units, but I only painted up a couple – partly because they were the only ones ready to go, and partly to allow me to reinforce them with other units – so what we have here is a clan (roughly a company) of infantry reinforced by a mob of Stompers and a mob of Bonebreaka tanks:
I did the flesh and bases with Goblin Green, washed with Green Ink, blue was Wilko’s Duck Egg Blue layered with a cheap blue craft acrylic and then bolters in black. The banners were done the same way and I used snipped up paper clips as the mounting poles.The red bits on the vehicles were Vallejo Hot Orange washed with red ink, and for the metallics it was Vallejo Mithril silver drybrushed over a black undercoat and then washed with a mix of Smokey Ink and Flesh wash for a rusty, battered look.
And now the entirety of Waagh-Bozzhog:
Towered over by Big Red the Mega Gargant, with Slasher in attendance.. Warlord Bozzhog & his Stompas at the front, backed up by Goff, Evil Sunz, Bad Moon and now Death Skull infantry!Unfortunately it is very possible to see how my painting approach has changed since whenever it was I last put brush to Epic Ork, and the colours don’t quite match… so I’m going to have to do some more re-organising and homogenising before I’m really happy with them.. but isn’t that always the way?
Anyhoo, Jim’s up next with a really cool little build, the boy’s getting into his stride! Stay thrifty and see you soon
It’s been a while, this. You ever get those project ideas which come really quickly but then take forever to get stuck into? This was one of those..
..which makes it all the sweeter to be finally able to show it off!
After Dan converted me to the Church of Granny Grating with his adorable Imperial Guard, I’ve fallen hook line and sinker for the charm of the technique, and after he decided to theme his army around the force featured in the 1992 (1993?) White Dwarf Battle Report, I decided to undertake a similar project based around the Squat force that fought against Ghazgkull Thraka’s Ork horde-
-and then, stuff got in the way…..
..and then this happened!
Yup. Stop the clock, as they say.
Now, the new look Squats are very much a source of controversy, but this army is firmly old school early 90s classic feel. So, to the pics!
Here’s how we start – wine box card and granny grating crosses, note slightly different shapes for assault troops (with swords) Hearthguard (greenstuff blobs to denote exo-armour) and banner poles to denote command stands.. no point going over the construction here as we’ve done it plenty over the last few years!Thunderers – each of these lads mounts a shoulder fired heavy weapon, a granny grating clip off superglued to the shoulderGrand Battery – 10 Mole Mortars, 5 Thudd Guns – drinking straw barrel, cardboard shield, granny grating undercarriage and wheels made by sling a sausage of greenstuffNot fooling anyone yet, are they? But you wait till they’re based and painted!Primed white, Vallejo Goblin Green for the overalls, cheap red craft paint for the flak jackets and Cadmium Yellow for the helmets, flesh tone craft paint for the faces. Everything then got a thinned Vallejo Brown Ink wash.. and then it was time to tackle the metallics!The metallics were initially silver before I checked some pics online and discovered I needed to do bronze.. so initial basecoat of Vallejo Mithril Silver, overlaid with a craft bronze (that had virtually nothing in the way of pigment) and finished with a Brown Ink wash.Hearth guard – yellow over white primer, overlaid with bronze craft paint and washed with brown ink.. yeah, I know, but from two feet they look pretty good!Basing was a craft brown, layered with Garage Floor Dust (TM), dry soil and Jarvis mixed flocksGrand Battery! I actually primed these guys gold with some spray paint I had from making Christmas decorations a few years ago, happily after a wash with Brown Ink they homogenised pretty well with the infantry!
So there we are, first tranche complete! Next up I’ve got a Guild Biker force to put together, and I’ve got some ideas for that… Granny grating is this stuff, so as you can see it’s an absolute steal, and one sheet has done all these Squats, Dan’s Imperial Guard, my Star Wars armies and there’s still a fair bit left!
Hopefully this has inspired you to give this technique a go – we can’t claim to have invented it, and sadly the original creator seems to have disappeared – this is as close a link as I could find. If anyone knows anything more, please let us know!
Stay safe and thrifty out there, and Slavia Ukrainia!
Sometimes, you just want that quick little win. And so it was the other day, as I finished the washing up and was about to toss an innocuous looking soft cheese container into the recycling, when I caught sight of it from a certain angle and something about it caught my eye..
Hmmm..
Cue a rummage around the Drawer Of Interestingly Shaped Crap (we’ve all got one) – and an old internet/ phone line junction box, a bottle cap and the lid from a nasal spray and things are starting to take shape:
Definitely something there….
Added superglue tops and made an archway with cardboard – after all, personnel have to be able to get in and out, even in the Imperium!
View from the other side
Out to the shed we go.. Primed black, then dusted white.. I’m not sure about the merits of zenithal highlighting, but as the black spray can ran out events forced my hand…
Overbrush with Wilko’s Duck Egg Blue house paint from our long serving tester pot
Drybrush/overbrush with Granite Dust (another Wilko’s tester pot)
Highlight up with Cloud Burst house paint drybrushed strategically, and then a thin black wash to tie it all together
Next up I blocked in base colours – Vallejo Russian Green and Mithril Silver for the metallic bits and gave the whole thing a thin black wash. I mixed in a little tan craft paint to create something lighter and did a little edge highlighting (sorry Dan) on the exposed edges, and for the psychic Astronomicon relay tower I used the same trick from the plasmareactors (itself lifted from one of Duncan’s old Warhammer TV painting guides), so I won’t retread that here – particularly since I don’t think I made that great a job of it, just couldn’t get it accurate enough so the effect is a bit smeary.
The great thing about the base box is that it comes with its own base! So I painted the lip brown, painted it with PVA and sprinkled first earth, then sand, then flock over it. Matt varnish sealed the whole thing and boom, we’re good to go! Beauty shots below:
Roman numeral for “44” in honour of the TRUE F1 world champion.. he shall return and wreak vengeance!!Weathering wash applied using a thinned down Vallejo skinwash – I tried to find places where rain might gather and streakOne of Whittlesey’s decals – I was hoping to get a second one on the other side but failed in applying it and manged to tear it…
So there we go, first build of 2022! On an unrelated note, we’re both big fans of Mel The Terrain Tutor, and he’s been worryingly quiet of late, particularly taking note of health issues he’s been suffering from – we wish him well wherever he is, and if you happen to be reading this Mel, drop us a line to let us know you’re Ok.
Meantime, stay safe, sane and thrifty everyone, we’ll see you again soon!
How do, Dan here and yes, I’ve been at the granny grating again (sorry Legion4, I know this is hard for you 😉 ). Once again, I’m not going to try and claim any particular credit for this idea, the entire thing was nicked whole from the BattleCraft YouTube channel. Watch, learn, fall in love with it… they’re just so freaking cute.
And of course, cheap to the point of being practically free.
So, I began by cutting out my basic “horse and rider” shape, as per the video. Next up, I cut a length of granny grating and trimmed it to look like a pole. I superglued these on to my horses at a roughly 45 degree angle (apart from one where I cocked up a bit – see if you can spot him in the pics) – this is the deadly explosive lance that gives the Riders their punch against armour and cavalry. I’m not sure how that might work in reality – surely a shaped charge big enough to take out a Land Raider would probably take the arm off the rider at the very least, but hey, it’s 40K! DRIVE MY TANK CLOSER SO I CAN HIT THEM WITH MY SWORD!!!
Come on, I dare you not to fall in love with these!
I hot glued these onto 20mm x 20mm single corrugated card (cut from a wine box in this instance) – two riders per base.
A cavalry squadron that fits on a Post-It note – what’s not to love?
Then it was out to the shed for a burst of black spray primer, base coat with Wilkinson’s “Granite Dust” house paint from a tester pot (£1 or so? And it’s kept me going for 3 years so far..)
Follow that with a coat of tan craft paint, dot in the body armour with Vallejo German grey, wash with thin black ink.
Next – horses. Vallejo Filthy Brown washed with brown ink – I would have gone for more variety but I was really psyched to get these done, so apologies for lack of diversity..
Then it was flesh for the faces and hands, wash with thin Vallejo Skin Wash.. I did the lances the same way as the horses, finished with a dab of Vallejo Mithril Silver washed down with black for the lance tips.
Basing was the same as the rest of the lads so far – paint the base dark brown, then PVA, a dunk in the flock pot and a drizzle of Garage Floor Dust (TM) and boom, done.
I’m really chuffed with these little guys and I do plan to expand them out to a full company at some point, but I’ve started to get a focus on what my Guard army should look like. I’m taking my inspiration from these guys here: The Assault On Barbarius Prime Epic battle report from way back in the 90s.
As you can see, this force featured a Tactical Company (check) a Heavy Company (almost check – stay tuned), an Artillery Company (hmm) and two companies of superheavies as well as support detachments. Now, here’s the thing – I’m pretty certain I can build all that lot with foamcore, card, granny grating and straws. It’s going to take a while, but I don’t see any of it as impossible. I look at an Epic Shadowsword and I think “foamboard sides and base, lay cardboard armour over the top, drinking straw cannon and granny grating heavy bolters”.
Will this pan out? Or will it be a massive act of hubris that ends with me having superglued my hands to my feet and desperately trying to type a blog entry with my nose?
Let us see.
In the meantime, stay safe out there, look out for each other and stay thrifty 🙂
So it was high time to break out the wee tiny fellas, scatter some scenery and get ready to do some serious krumpin’
This time the Imperial forces would be bolstered not just by the home made Leviathan, but also by a squadron of home made Vindicators – the first inklings of a DIY Epic Imperial Guard army! Whilst the greenskins… they got BIG RED.
Preparation:
The armies hit the board! Objectives laid, armies deployed – Big Red anchors the Ork left flank along with the Goff Skullhamma, while the Slasher leads the Goffs and Evil Sunz assault force and the Bad Moons prepare to provide fire support. Meanwhile, the Devastators anchor the Imperial right, while the Veterans make ready to assault forwards in the centre supported by the Land Raider company, Warlord Titan, Leviathan and Vindicator squadron.
Ork Plan:
The basic plan with WAAGH BOZZHOG has pretty much always been use the Evil Sunz to charge forward and pin the enemy in place until the Goffs arrive to batter them senseless, while the Bad Moons throw fire support downrange. Meanwhile Big Red would occupy the objective in the gulley to the left, backed up by the Skullhamma and the Slasher would either cause calamities with it’s belly gun or rush forward to demolish the opposition with it’s chainfist, we’d play that one by ear!
Imperial Plan:
Looking at the terrain, it seemed a slam dunk to have the Devastators to deploy up the steep hill onto the objective on the Imperial right, which would also give a great field of fire across the battlefield. However, there was a tempting objective in the town slightly toward the centre, so I split off one detachment to occupy that. Meanwhile, the veterans of 1st Company would hurl themselves forward into the teeth of the ork horde and try and hold the town in the face of the Evil Sunz assault while the Land Raider company moved up in support behind them (with their mortal cousins in the Imperial Guard Vindicator squadron alongside them) and the Warlord and Leviathan adding their weight of firepower to the mix.
Turn 1:
Orks get the initiative and force the Marines to move first. Devastators take positions on the hill and in the town, while No. 1 company veterans deploy into the buildings facing the Ork horde!
Hurtling forward, pedal to the metal, the Evil Sunz crash into the veterans of No. 1 company and the Nobz warbikes demolish a squadron of Land Raiders.
Carnage!!!!
As turn 1 ends, the orks have broken the Veteran and Land Raider companies in exchange for the Evil Sunz and the Skullhamma but superior Imperial manoeuvrability means more Imperial held objectives – Imperials lead 36 VPs to 26.
Turn 2:
The second wave hits! Goffs assault the buildings held by the remains of the veteran company whilst the few surviving Evil Sunz add their firepower in support. Meanwhile the Slasher lines up the Warlord and the surviving Imperial armour moves up in the centre.
Guard Vindicators pour their fire into the murderous close quarter battle in the streets as the Marine veterans fight desperate hand to hand combats in the buildings!
Devastator fire blows up the Skullhamma but Big Red watches on, impervious… (note the building reduced to rubble by a ball round, taking most of a Devastator detachment with it!)
Destruction up close and personal!
This turn broke the Devastators on top of the Veterans and Land Raiders, but the Goffs were teetering on the brink after the spectacularly bloody battle for the town that had also shattered the Evil Sunz, the Slasher and the Warlord had both taken chunks out of each other and both sides were teetering on the edge of collapse…
Turn 3:
With the last veterans massacred by rampaging Goffs, Whirlwind artillery fire, combined with the barrage weapons on the Leviathan and Warlord, collapses the building they captured. Meanwhile, a lucky volcano cannon shot from the Warlord causes a flashback to the magazine, destroying the Slasher!
With the Slasher gone (and Big Red on the other flank damaged by fire from the Devastators), the Goffs now broken, the battered Imperial forces stand bloodied but victorious! 58-44 to the Redeemers with their Hazzard PDF allies – WAAAGH-BOZZHOG is denied once again…
Epilogue:
Whew, that was close – had I not got lucky with the Warlord’s volcano cannon in turn 3, that could have gone very differently.. I’ve also realised how ineptly I handled the veterans, rushing them forward to take on the Ork horde in close combat whilst moving support up behind them – what I should have done is kept them in their transports in reserve and allow the Orks to face long range fire from whatever Devastators I could spare from sparring with the Gargant, let the Whirlwinds and the barrage weapons on the Titan do their thing and then unleashed the elite close combat troops. And I should group the Terminators with them, as they accomplished squat where they were, until they were largely squashed by a ball round… must remember, it’s not how many points you have at the start of the game, it’s how many you have on the last turn that count!
___________________
Zog it! Well, I stuck to the plan – so maybe that’s the problem.. I’m thinking of putting the Goffs in battlewagons to keep up with the Sunz and maybe paint up a Death Skull warband to best use the Goff armour. That way the assault wave can hit all at once for truly devastating effect.. hmm.. either way, we definitely have escalation!
I always had a thing for the Imperial Guard as a wee youngling, and it often occurred to me that it was very wrong the way they were portrayed as almost a “fringe” army in 40k – after all, it was the teeming trillions of plain old GI Joes and Janes that held the line against the countless horrors of the 41st millenium, amirite?
But it was always the Space Marines who got included in the boxes…
I always fancied having a Guard army for Epic- the idea of massed tank and infantry suited the Guard absolutely perfectly! But then the cost – GW ain’t, never has been, and most likely never will be, cheap.
So, if I was going to make this idea happen, I was clearly going to have to MAKE it happen, if you catch my drift.
Yup, scratchbuild time again.
Normally I’d go in all all guns blazing and try and build something like a company of Stormhammer super heavy tanks out of cardboard, Blu-Tack and straws with nothing but blind faith in the God Emperor guiding my hand, but we’ve done that sort of thing before and this time I had an idea I wanted to try. I started with the idea of a Vindicator company – back in the early 90s, the Guard could take them, and Predators – and although the model itself got a bit of stick for looking blocky and cartoonish, it was those very properties that appealed to me for ease of building. If the original model looked like it had been carved out of foamboard and cardboard by a cretin, it should be easy for a cretin to build one out of foamboard and cardboard!
Let us begin:
We begin two blacks of foamboard – I measured an old Epic Rhino to get the dimensions right and came up with 24mm by 11mm
Next, trim these to form a parallelogram – 6mm back from the front and back to create the slopes, again copied from the Epic Rhino I used as my template.
Now we turn to cardboard – or chipboard, for our friends across the pond (looking at you, Wyloch!)
Note the measurements in millimetres – these would form the first layer of the sides and track units.
Another shot of the side units, cut out and showing their shape
Next layer of side armour – again, note measurements in millimetres
Rear hatch cut from cardboard – 12mm wide by 10mm tall rectangle
12mm by 12mm square for front glacis plate
Front glacis plate with edges trimmed
And installed – that 2+ save doesn’t come out of nowhere!
Measuring out the side and top panels on thin modelling cardstock
And applied, bulking out the classic Rhino silhouette into something more intimidating..
Ain’t no Vindicator without the unfeasibly big gun! Drinking straw filled with tacky glue…
Glued in place on the front glacis plate. Hatches punched from chipboard with hole punch.
Final detailing! cylinders cut from granny grating to represent the side exhausts
And DONE! ready for priming….
Next up, painting – and that’s still a WIP so right now you’ll have to make do with this for now 🙂 Stay thrifty out there, we’ll see you soon!
As it stands, said Leviathan is the the sole Epic scale member of the 1977th, so it would be the Redeemers going to bat again with a token measure of Guard support.. The list looked like this:
The Redeemers Strike Force 01Now, as some of you may recall, we screwed the maths up a little last time out, so we were determined that this time we were going to get things right, so army cards were checked, double checked and checked again for good measure – this time before the beers came out. For WAAAGH-BOZZHOG, Dan was able to bring out all three of his painted up Ork clans, plus the mighty Slasher that had wrought so much carnage last time out:
We rolled up a health mix of terrain, including several towns – too many, in fact for the buildings we had supplied in the box so we broke out some of the home made sci-fi terrain we made earlier on in the year (which never made the blog- might have to remedy that) to fill in the gaps. This worked out quite nicely – the Orks would be rushing to loot the vast giga-storehouses of Hazzard’s finest export moonshine, certainly a mission which would require the Redeemer’s immediate attention!
For what seems like the first time in living memory, Dan won the deployment roll off and opted for the southern table edge with a greater concentration of objectives, leaving the Redeemers slightly on the back foot – but not to worry, the Emperor’s finest would save the day and ensure that Imperial liquor cabinets would not run dry on this most festive of occasions! First to 50 Victory Points would be the winner…
Imperial Deployment & Plan
Bugger, I wanted that side! Right, never mind, a Marine is nothing if not adaptable.. looking at the terrain and bearing in mind the experience of the previous game, my rough plan was to get the Leviathan, Devastators, Warlord and Whirlwinds into position and firing as quickly as possible to whittle down the Ork numbers and counterattack with the Veterans and Terminators when the time was right. Scouts would sit on the backfield objective and protect the Whirlwinds while the Land Raiders would act as a fire brigade.
To this end, I placed the armour and the Leviathan covering the open ground on the right flank, Devastators would advance to capture objectives 2 and 3 and plaster fire into the oncoming hordes. I debated what to do with my Veterans and Terminators and eventually decided on something audacious – Veterans would charge forward onto Objective 6 and use that either to springboard an assault or pull back in a fighting retreat onto the Devastator’s guns, while the Terminators would ambush any unwary stragglers. With this rough plan in mind, the Redeemers and the PDF crew of the Leviathan finished their final weapons checks and turned to face the enemy..
Ork Deployment & Plan:
Haha, for once the dice gods favour me! Right, my basic strategy with this army was three pronged – Evil Sunz would loop around and charge in, pinning the main enemy unit in close combat, before pulling out and leaving the central column of heavier but slower moving Goffs to finish them off. Meanwhile the Bad Moons and the Slasher wold provide covering fire and if any close combat targets of opportunity presented themselves, the Slasher would take care of them. Following this, Bad Moons deployed onto the hill with orders to advance onto objective 7 and 5, while the Goffs would charge “hey diddle diddle, straight up the middle” with the intent of pulverising any Imperial unit foolish enough to stand in our way, and the Evil Sunz would secure Objectives 2 and 3. From there – we’d see what happened..
The armies deploy..Bad Moons hold the Ork backfield objectives and provide covering fire with the Slasher in supportGoffs mass in the centre, Skullhamma to the foreEvil Sunz prepare a flanking charge
Redeemers Veterans and Terminators, with the Medic, realising they’ve massively misjudged deployment..
Imperial centre – Whirlwinds prepare to rain fire on the greenskins, Scouts ready to move up to secure objective 8 and protect the artillery while the Warlord gets set to stride into the fray!
Imperial right flank – Land Raiders and Leviathan anchor the flank while the Devastators prepare to secure objectives 2 and 3
The view from the Imperial lines… ulp!
Turn 1:
The Imperials won the initiative and forced the Orks to move first. This was somewhat intimdating as the Bad Moons and Slasher grabbed three objectives on the Ork right, while the Evil Sunz floored their throttles and hurtled toward the towering peaks of Objective 3, and the Goffs bellowed a mighty WAAAAAAGH, charging through the buildings in the centre towards the hated humiez!
Evil Sunz deploy forwards, capturing objectives 1 and 2 and contesting 3
The Goffs emerge from the Ork centre..
Bad Moons roll forward onto Objective 7 to lay down covering fire
A sea of red and green…
Land Raiders swing out to spring the trap – but will it be enough?
The Leviathan picks it’s targets…
Veteran Company take a gamble and charge forward to capture Objective 6 with Terminators in support
Devastators scale the hill to capture Objective 3
Whirlwinds bring the pain to the Bad Moons, destroying infantry and Braincrushas
Leviathan adds it’s Doomsday Cannon to the fray
Why I hate ball rounds: Pt 1- Before…
Pt. 2: After…
Pt. 3 – Dan reminds me that I have – had – a Medic in there, giving everyone a 5+ save
Imperial firepower pounds the Bad Moons
The Devastators ready themselves for Orkish assault
In the open ground in front of Objective 2, Imperial Land Raiders engage the Orks
And in the End Phase, these two muster up vital Orky psychic energy to unleash the next turn…
Turn 2:
The turn began with a mighty WAAAAGH and the roar of greenskin V8s as the Orks won the initiative and opted to move first. A wave of red and green engulfed the Devastators on the commanding heights of Objective 3 – hunkered down on First Fire orders, the Marines grimly zeroed their sights, waiting until they saw reds of their enemies’ eyes..
Evil Sunz swamp the Devastators on Objective 3
Goffs thunder forward toward the Imperial centre
Forging ahead, the Skullhamma plows into one of the Terminator detachment’s Land Raiders.
Bad Moons and Slasher lay down covering fire
Imperial artillery lays into the Goffs, felling ten stands of infantry – the boyz push on regardless!
The Warlord turns his laser blaster on the Bad Moons, killing some unwary boyz while the Goff Nobz take down his remaining Void Shields
Evil Sunz assault into murderous fire from the Devastators
They steam in hard, but the Devastators still hold the hill!
Meanwhile, the Skullhamma demolishes a Land Raider in the woods..
..before the Terminator infantry (on advance orders) destroy it in turn. That’s what you get for messing with a man’s ride.
At the end of Turn 2, the marines hold 5 objectives, the Orks 3 – Imperial fire has detroyed the Skullhamma and broken the Evil Sunz, who are forced to fall back, but the Veteran Company is almost entirely wiped out. So the score stands Orks 24 VPs, Imperials 38!
Turn 3:
The initiative stayed with the Orks for this one, who opted to move first. The Evil Sunz assault had been a costly failure, but with unexpected good fortune on the other flank – wiping out an entire company of valuable Redeemer veterans – would we be able to refocus and redeploy to take advantage?
Evil Sunz fall back to regroup and rally on Objective 1
Belly gun reloaded, the Slasher fires another lethal ball round – direct hit, straight to the plasma reactor! The Warlord erupts in a pillar of nuclear fire
Hunkered down on first fire orders, Bad Moon Weirdboy towers lash the Redeemers, finishing iff the Veterans in the ruins and killing a couple of Devastators – it’s not over yet!
The Imperial right flank, buttressed by the Leviathan, grinds forward, wiping out the Evil Sunz survivors and reclaiming Objective 1
As Turn 3 comes to a close, the destruction of the Warlord and the proximity of the Goffs in the gulley to Objective 3 has flipped things around again – Orks now lead 37 to 28!
Turn 4:
With the Warlord down, the Imperial left flank was reduced to a few stands of Terminators, but equally the Ork left had crumbled and the Bad Moons had taken heavy casualties to the point where they were perilously close to breaking – even at this stage, it was anyone’s game!
The Orks won the initiative and opted for a bold, aggressive strategy..
The Slasher barrels forward to destroy the few remaining vehicles of the Veteran Company and capture Objective 6
Goffs close assault the Whirlwainds and the Scouts charged with protecting them (note the large smoking crater where once had stood a Warlord Titan…
Goff Gutrippas against Whirlwinds – not a chance
Scouts fight valiantly but are overwhelmed and outnumbered
With the Imperial forces out of position, the charge of the Goffs and the Slasher has pushed the Orks up to 46 VPs, but the Goffs suffer just enough casualties to break them, putting the Imperials on 45…
Turn 5:
The Imperial side won the initiative and opted to go first – with the remaining Orks running wild, only an equally aggressive strategy could pull things back!
Land Raiders burst through onto Objective 4, laying into the remaining Bad Moons
The remaining Scouts fall to Goff Nobz and armour, and the Orks capture Objective 8
Imperial fire cripples the Bad Moons, finally breaking them…
And as the Devastators recapture Objective 3, it’s all over! 59 VPs to the Marines, 46 to the Orks.
Conclusion:
What a game! Right until the end it could have gone either way, especially after the Warlord disintegrated (as he seems wont to do every game).. and the ballsy charge of the Goffs and the Slasher almost swung it. Had the Evil Sunz assault gone better it would have been all over for the Marines, but Dan admitted to getting to unfocused, trying to capture Objective 2 as well as carry the assault. A bit more concentration of force would have enveloped the Devastators and most likely annihilated them. And what the hell was I thinking putting my entire Veteran company in the warehouse?? I may as well have left them at home!
The Goffs are a weird bunch, clumping infantry and tanks together means something very hard hitting but at the same time hard to position right, and it was only really Turn 4 when they were in position to do something significant – and by then they’d suffered enough casualties to have broken. Dan’s going to try mounting them in Battlewagons next time… ulp.
Most Valued Player for Dan was undoubtedly the Slasher, 600 pts but chewed it’s way through 1850 pts of Marines and Titan – nearly half my force! For me, I was impressed by the Leviathan, it’s long range cannon let me put the hurt on the Bad Moons from the opposite end of the table, and in the end that helped push us over the line.
So while we mourn our Veteran brethren and Warlord (and Scouts.. and Whirlwinds.. and Dan managed to kill a stand of Terminators to break them too..) the Leviathan leads a battered taskforce of Land Raiders and Devastators to secure the remaining precious stocks of Luna Luceat liquor. The Imperial Festive Season must go on!
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