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Tuesday 11 March 2014

A Legion of my finest troops...

Or at least a full Tactical Company of the Executioners Chapter!


Yes I have opened up another front in the war against unpainted minis in my collection and started yet another scale - 6mm this time!


Thanks to my old buddy Ollie over at the Second Founding, who has enticed me into 6mm sci fi gaming, I have dusted off my battered old box of 2nd edition Space Marine (Epic) and begun piecing together the mighty armies of the Imperium once more. Looks like I might have some Tau-esque Xeno scum to exterminate before long if Ollie's painting table is anything to go by.


I loved Epic back in the day and seem to remember getting it for Christmas not long after I had drooled all over the preview pics in WD141. Like a typical unimaginative teenager I daubed up some of my Space Marines as Blood Angels and my Eldar had to come from the Alaitoc Craftworld to match the studio armies in White Dwarf.


Me and my brother played quite a few games together, especially after I got a couple of the boxed sets containing the more exotic troop types to bolster the ranks of the armies that came with the game.


This time around I've gone for an even more old school look for my Marines and have picked the Executioners Chapters - mainly because I love the camo colour scheme and because I have painted up their bigger 28mm cousins this way already. They also have a great back story through their part in the Badab War.


Courtesy of WD101 we get a brief history from the pages of the Index Astartes which detail The rebellion of the Tiger Claws Chapter, under the leadership of their mentally unstable Master, Lufgt Huron - the Tyrant of Badab. What I particularly like about the story is that it's not your usual common or garden Chaos incursion - instead the roots of the rebellion lie in the Adeptus Mechanicus' displeasure at the Tiger Claws' tardiness in submitting gene-seed for routine inspection and the large debt of planetary tithes Huron had built up.


Once the Imperium moved against Huron's Marines the whole mess erupted into a large scale rebellion. Huron himself was suspected of being an Alien Shape-changer or at least under alien mind domination of some kind.

Soon three other chapters, including the Executioners, Mantis Warriors and Lamenters, joined the rebellion. In response the Fire Hawks and Marines Errant were called in to protect Imperial shipping in the area and they were soon joined by the Red Scorpions and the Minotaurs. As the threat to shipping receded, the Scorpions and Fire Hawks were recalled to other duties and replaced by the Novamarines and Howling Griffons.


Meanwhile yet another Chapter, the Star Phantoms, laid siege to Badab while the Home Planets of the Lamenters and Executioners were investigated by other Chapters.

The Lamenters were ambushed and forced to surrender after a bloody space battle with the Minotaurs. This was a great blow to the Tyrant of Badab and the rest of the war became a series of close sieges, culminating in the fall of Badab and the final defeat of the Tiger Claws.



With the war over (not before the Exorcists, Fire Angels, Salamanders, Space Sharks and Sons of Medusa had been involved at one time or another!) forgiveness was granted to the Mantis Legion, Executioners and Mantis Warriors, subject to them undertaking a hundred year Crusade. Their Home Planets were gifted to the Space Sharks and Star Phantoms for their part in the war.

As for Huron and his Tiger Claws? They were all but destroyed - only a contingent of about two hundred fought their way clear of the blockade. They escaped into deep space and have not been heard of since...


I also turned to old copies of WD for the Rhino colour scheme - WD103 this time. Again, purely based on which ever colour scheme pleased my eye I went for the Imperial Guard's "Fighting 9th" Regiment. The camo scheme used to blend into the Ammonia Salt Plains during the Assault on Tsunami Reef provides a bit of a contrast to the mottled blues of the Marine armour. I'm sure the Imperial Guard won't mind sharing that particular camo scheme! Especially as when I get round to my Imperial Guard forces I'll be painting them up as the "Lucky Sevens" - again, to fit in with their larger 28mm brothers.


Command section - might have to go back in with a smaller brush and a steady hand to attempt the Executioner's axe motif in the centre of the red circle on the Commander's banner - you can just make it out on the side of his command Rhino.



Didn't fancy trying it on all these shoulder pads though!


Whilst we're on the topic of Epic, I was quite chuffed to see that the random box of Squat stuff I bought a while back produced this little lot! 

 
 
Right - onwards to finish off the Mk1 Landraider Squadron I'm in the middle of...

31 comments:

  1. I hate you so much right now... This has made me even more want to start some epic forces. Sadly the budget (Read: Wife) is not permitting.

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    1. Sorry mate - if it's any consolation, I'm sure mine will be of a similar mind when she sees what Super Heavy Tanks are going for on ebay...

      Luckily I have most of the plastics from when I was a kid - can't resist all the cool metal stuff I always wanted though!

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    2. I think I a bunch of the old metal tanks, a baneblade at 3 stormhammers, if you are interested in atrade, I'm up for it. Dark elves of the 3rd ed. Kind is my prefernce, but dwarfs are good too.

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    3. Thanks very much - I'll see what I can rustle up! Definitely got some Dark Elves spare.

      Can you pm me on the Oldhammer forum if you're active there?

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  2. Nice stuff!
    My own interest in Epic resurfaces every 9 months or so. I'd probably stay on the beam longer if I actually knew anyone locally who was interested in playing it.

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    1. Thanks mate - shame you're not more local as Epic is something I'd like to get back into in a big way.

      By the way - did you see we finally got around to posting up the Indio Anjones scenario you very kindly did some artwork for us! Looks like our original plans for a Fanzine have morphed into a new approach for keeping the Oldhammer blog updated with new stuff. Thanks again for such superb illustrations!

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  3. Bell of lost souls did a great supplement on the Badab war. A lot of it is created material filling in the gaps between canon, but it was well done and worth a read

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    1. http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2009/08/play-aid-badab-war.html

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    2. Nice one - that looks like a fantastic supplement - I suppose the next step would be to pick up a copy of Space Fleet/Battlefleet Gothic and fight the space battles...

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  4. Looks ace and I've only just seen the 28mm ones - love the Grox rider!

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    1. Cheers Steve - that army was a lot of fun to paint - shame they look a bit dry-brushy compared to what I'm capable of now!

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  5. They look really nice, let me know if you fancy pitting them up against some Eldar or Orks some time!

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    1. Your on matey - fancy bringing them along to the Battle at the Farm and duking it out in a three-way scenario with me and Ollie?

      Should have a few more troops painted up by then - got to watch for those pesky Aspect Warriors and exotic artillery the Eldar are so good at.

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  6. This is timely, I've just been sorting through my epic stuff myself. My imperator titan and some warhounds look like tempting targets for the brush, but I'm unsure what rules to use. I did love the massive data sheets for the imperator and mega gargants from Titan Legions.

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    1. If those Imperators weren't so costly I'd be quite tempted too. The Mega Gargants seem to go for a lot less. I can see a scenario involving a rescue mission to recover a stricken Imperator with only a few of its weapon systems operational would be fun!

      The data sheets were great from Titan Legions. I've got a choice between the original rules, the later 40K Epic rules but am also interested in trying out Bombshell Games' OP4S (Opposing Force) beta rules too. Warlord Paul mentioned another fun rules set too but I can't remember the name...

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  7. Epic, yay! Fantastic MK I marines. I'm also in an Epic revival and currently painting an Adeptus Mechanicus army.
    Nice trees BTW.
    Cheers,

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    1. Yep - spotted your Mechanicus stuff the other day. Very nice indeed!

      The trees seem to be doing ok providing scenery for both 28mm and 6mm which is nice! They're the Woodland Scenics armatures with clump foliage stuck on.

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  8. Absolutely lovely. Epic is my version of "Oldhammer" and I started getting a couple collections assembled last year. Got four nearly-complete Warlords staring at me from the painting table right now, actually. Excuse me, I have to go paint...

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    1. Looking forward to seeing your Titan Legion finished! I reckon Epic sits comfortably in the Oldhammer Pantheon - I certainly loved playing it as a kid and look forward to cooking up some scenarios for future games.

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  9. Very pretty. Never really got into 6mm, can't see it being a road I go down myself, although I'm sure you can show me the error of my ways!

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    1. Cheers buddy - it is a very different aesthetic to 28mm. I was seduced by those glorious pics of hordes of Imperial Guard and Legions of Space Marines in the old White Dwarfs - quite a spectacle!

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  10. Absolutely fantastic. Colour scheme looks great and it's nice to see someone who actually takes the tactical company.
    Do you play oldschool epic exclusively or have you dabbled in netepic?
    I want greatly to see more of this.

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    1. Thanks very much! I reckon the lowly Tactical Company is the nearest I could get to the pathetic aesthetic with a game called Epic! ;)

      I'd like to use the old rules, although I think Netepic will be very useful for filling in the gaps or fielding units that didn't have rules written for them at the time.

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  11. Epic fever here !! Don't try to cure you, let yourself go.
    Bye Nico.

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    1. Thanks Nico - I think I'm a hopeless case, an incurable!

      Absolutely love your epic Orks - if the rest of you haven't seen them, check this out. Truly epic!

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  12. Wow.ive just got three companies of epic dark angels and a company of epic flesh Tearers ready to play.
    I'm happy to take part in any second edition epic games.
    I did an epic battle report on my blog a while back which explains how the system works.

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    1. Nice report and a close game - I quite like the fact it was fairly low key with mostly infantry and some armour. Unlucky with those Devastators!

      If you're ever up North in the Leeds or York area I'd be happy to indulge in some 6mm carnage with you.

      Hoping to finish off my own Landraider Company today as well as a few other bits and pieces...

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    2. I deeply look forward to the Xenos Tau's extension of the universe for the greater good etc etc etc :-) thanks for the link

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    3. Heresy! The greatest good in the universe is the Emperor. Prepare to die, Xeno scum!

      You're welcome - nice write up of our last Fantasy game too. I hope to get round to the force's of good's point of view this week...

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