Lord of Khorne: Cutter the Choppa'

After my victory with a proxy Chaos Lord (As I forgot my actual Lord) I decided to make a Lord of Khorne.

I took a primaris body and two ork arms as well as a few chaos bits and made Cutter the Choppa into an actual model. Suitably huge when compared to a standard old marine.

But what is a Khorne Lord without skulls? I hear you say. Well I thought similar, so I decided to give him twenty skulls on his person and seven on his base. The base is a 40mm base which is too big but I think he justifies it.

The same day I painted him and then he was ready for battle.

Last week the might of Cutter the Choppa, clashed with Jamie's Pax'nera T'au Sept.  It was a brutal and brief game. I claimed first turn. Charged from the rhino and ate into the t'au gun line. The retaliation was bloody but it didn't stop my Lord cleaving through the blue-skinned bodies until he claimed victory.

A Servant's Wrath

Removing his helmet their Lord revealed his scarred and pitted visage. Twisted leathery flesh, fused with bone and metal. Like his other warriors, he bore the fresh wounds of self mutilation. Blood poured from his large gnarled hands and wrists into the numerous orifices in his face. His dark eyes stared with glee out into the battlefield before them. Beyond the haze of gore he could see the Pax’nera landing in the ruins opposite starting their advance. Cutter the Choppa clambered into his rhino and called his berserkers forward. Klash began to shiver and chatter as Mauler howled with anticipation. All at once they began the berserkgang. First waves of cold hit them, their joints seizing as they uncontrollably shivered. Moans and roars erupted as their flesh bulged in deep reds and purples. Fever soon bled into rage, chainswords revved into action as the rhino’s hatch was released. Crashing into the t’au battle line the renegade berserkers took the first volley of fire. Bodies riddled with mortal injury they continued to fight on. Amongst his dying warriors Cleaver entered the fray. His huge axe in hand he cut three t’au in half with one blow narrowly missing a fourth. He cared not for his brothers. As six fell down dead the remaining two turned to run. In one swift motion the Chaos Lord cleaved down his own as they attempted to flee, the mighty choppa severing armour, flesh and bone. He was not surprised their fate had been foretold. A precognition had been implanted into his head by På Veg prior to their landing. The mighty greater daemons eyes penetrating his corrupted soul and had foretold his success. Med Leen’s visions had been more grave. They had prophesied his warriors foul fate and the blind rage as he cleaved them down. He knew he would turn from this battle, let the enemy flee, wipe out the tiny horrors in anger at their masters predictions. Recalling the malevolent jeering made his rage boil over. Turning from the enemy he directed his rage towards the warp spawn. Cleaver the Choppa was no ones puppet!

The horror propelled itself onward sullen, chortling and whining. Tears of rage filled its diminutive contorted face. Surrounding him were the six remaining little daemons, laughing and cackling as they simmered and popped. They all knew that they would soon return to their master. Two of the horrors would flee, hide and burn up to nothing, while their blue leader and four other critters would be decimated by the mighty ork weapon. Clambering around the last remaining drones they managed to secure themselves on one and pull it to the ground. Weeping and stamping in a volatile rage, the radiant blue leader slammed his ever-changing form into the dirty below. Unable to focus on their victory he was sealed by the misery of his fate. Turning around he saw the large bulky figure approaching them. “Tell your Lord to get outa my ‘ed!” Yelled Cleaver as he brought down the Choppa, dissipating the horrors into nothing but fire and crackling energy. The Pax’nera had fallen back, the great ones claimed what they wanted and now more of the planet was theirs. Before he had a chance to rejoice, the crackling static and flames seized the Chaos Lord. Sparking and convulsing, his muscles expanded and were filled with a new vigour, a new vigour that would allow him to claim and defend the eldar moon.

Freehand Flyer

Gradually since just before 8th Editions release, I have been experimenting with freehand painting. A few weeks ago I purchased a Storm Raven for £8 and was pretty hyped about it. Soon after I realised that I could not use it with my Space Wolf force. I then sold it on ebay for £35 and acquired this Storm Wolf instead.

I have never been a fan of painting vehicles (aside from walkers), so I thought I would try a different approach. After priming it black I have started to treat the blank vehicle as a canvas. My aim is to cover most of it in freehand.

I started with the portrait of the Wolf Mother, a greater daemon unaffiliated with any of the four Chaos gods that saved the Canis Aureus in their time of peril. I began with the basic image and worked up the highlights. The eyes needed to be larger in order for me to get the detail into them.

After this I did the portrait of the Wolf Mothers' true form. A woman with a humanoid body, a clawed hand and the head of a Jackal (See video below).

Finally, I painted over the cockpit of the Storm Fang. Is the beast alive or is it a paint scheme designed to bring terror into the hearts of the Aureus' enemies? One thing is for sure, it is going to take me some time to finish this, but I am sure it will be worth every hour.

Marquee Models vs the World

Marquee Models vs the World is an annual event run by the stores owner Kieth. In the event he takes on all comers and matches the total combined points. 2016 was my first time attending and nine 500pt armies faced off against 4500pts of Imperial Forces. It was a long and tough day amounting to 8 hours of time and only 2 rounds of the game. That and a couple of games against a heavy cheese Guard list almost put me off of the hobby entirely.

Jostein and his entourage 

This years event was far better. Five armies led by my Warlord: Jostein of the Wolf Mother, clashed against a 2500pt list of genestealers and two hive tyrants. 

The storm surge and cheesy guard list (the same force, but different list I faced a year ago) cleaned their table out very quickly and with minimal threat or effort, whereas the Tau, Salamanders and the Aureus came into close quarters very quickly.

"There's more on the horizon! I'm on my own out here... guys..."

Jamies Tau squad was hit hard in turn one, losing all but their Sgt. and two infantry to the vicious hive tyrants assault. The survivors hit back hard causing three wounds to the xenos beast in front of them, before two fled leaving the Sgt. alone.

The support came in from my hellblaster squad and the remainder of his Tau forces, tearing the threat apart as the genestealers broke through in large numbers.

These loyal souls sacrificed themselves. Holding their ground the ancient Aureus fell, allowing the next generation to take the xenos scum apart.

By the Tyranid swarm's third round there was only one unit left on the table.  As my HQ was nominated warlord at the start of the game by my allies, I was given a certificate and a dice bag for leading our forces to victory.

Below is my first small piece of fiction in a while. It depicts my forces outlook on the battle.

New Blood

The horizon blackened with the mass of xenos that approached them. Thick, fast and gnashing the genestealers were ravenous with hunger and eager to consume their prey.  Jostien observed the writhing landscape for a few minutes before moving. He had not been in existence for long. All he knew of battle was a few small scale conflicts, in which he had proven his worth as both a marine and the new perfect breed of super soldier.  

The first attempts at creating primaris marines had gone horribly wrong, weak pallid and mutated, most had to be incinerated. Jostien and Harker had been the first true successes. Both had been assigned units of newly grown marines but Jostien was identified as a leader. Strong, smart and frighteningly agile for his size, he appeared to be the perfect warrior to lead the Jackals in these new times. It was Grendel's belief that warriors of over 10,000 years of age were being outpaced by the new races across space. While they had beaten the Tau at every turn and the ancient and manipulative Eldar, there numbers were slowly being thinned out.  It was true that the mighty Frode had returned with the forces of the warp on his side, warbands and renegades willing to throw their lives down to serve the wolf mother. The Chapter now had allies and resources like never before, but it was losing touch with its roots. 

Fenerus had always been cocky and too eager, taking himself to the front lines and leading his forces with unmatched aggression. He had embraced the warp and it had changed him. Whereas before he took warzones in days, now he took them in mere minutes.  Having tired of the lack of conflict he had taken his forces to Konor and proven his might in the light. Tearing down the Imperial Guard defences, crushing the eldar, resisting Dragonforce and decimating the Tau. His efforts along with the return of Frode had created fall to chaos within the Chapter. Jostien understood this path, it was a path to untapped and potentially the ultimate power. Some of his new kin were born with this corruption in their cores but he was untouched.  Grendel had explained this made him closer to the original Canis Aureus' than most of the High Jackals. 

The priests had filled his mind with the Chapter's rich history and eventual betrayal. From this data acknowledged the importance of the Wolf Mother but also the deep malevolent danger and corruption that she brought with her powers. No matter if she was a greater daemon or a goddess, Jostein knew that her power came at a great cost and he had to be ready when she came to collect.  He had to prove himself and muster allies of his own. He had departed to meet the incoming Hive fleet with a small recon force. Little to his superior's knowledge he had also arranged to meet with the Tau Sept Pax'nera and the Salamander faction, known as Dragonforce, that his own kin had been at war with. Through careful diplomacy he had managed to get their aid in facing this Hive Fleet head on, rather than letting it consume the planets before it. The system was after all of mutual interest to them all and no good being digested by the Hive Fleet.

Leading the conflict on the ground the Jackal decided it was time to act. Standing from his seated position he held out his bolter high. The Tau Storm Surge began firing its volley as the forces Sun Shark flew ahead. As the fire ripped through the landscape the approaching wave parted. Renegade Guardsmen began firing the artillery as the Tau and Astartes moved forward, ready to greet the assault. The Hive tyrant tore through the tau firing line, cleaving the blue skinned warriors apart, sending their corpses scattering across the battlefield. The Sgt. called his last two remaining men to retreat and began firing his carbine into the beasts terrifying visage. Jostein commanded his Hellblasters to support the blue skin, they managed to slow its approach as the xenos allies brought it down to it's knees, thrashing and wailing. 

From the buildings above Dragonforce lived up to their name, belching fire forth into the incoming swarm, turning the tide into a vibrant molten ichor.  The ancients stood firm as the burning tyranids approached, their claws punching into their reinforced armour, tearing and rending the flesh beneath. Each endured the pain, knowing their sacrifice was worthy of the advancement of their chapter. In exchange for their death, they would get revenge for the decimation of their home world. As the marines fell, Jostein gave the signal. The flamers once again erupted, incinerating both his kin and the xenos that were slaughtering them. His own marines picked off the last termegants, while the mighty leader of the Dragons, drove his spear through a mighty broodlord.

As the battle drew to a close Jostein knew the day was won. His chapter and allies had suffered minimal casualties and yet crushed the Hive Fleet. The battle in orbit was drawing to a close and it appeared that the Tau forces had won the the battle in orbit. He hoped this victory would be enough to get him noticed as a warlord in his own right, to lead his own Jackals for the benefit of his Chapter.  If the Imperium did not recognise them, they needed to stand with other allies in there time of need, chaos and internal conflict was not the answer. 

More Tournament Prep

I finally made a list for the 750pt tournament. Now I just need to make sure everything is painted for it.  I decided being an actual tournament that I shouldn't use any proxy models, so I dug out my only chaos spawn and painted him up, along with the four autocannon havocs that I need for it. Now to base them!

My rhino also needed a touch up, something to make it more chaotic. I think he turned out alright.

Raven Guard

Regretfully I did not have time to photograph these two gents.  I was commissioned to paint them locally but neglected to actually take a picture.  thankfully the client sent me this picture of them in the cabinet at the local shop.

A huge part of commissioning for me is just to see the joy of people playing with the miniatures I have painted for them. It's nice to know that they go to loving homes.