crossbonesx11's Dive into the Hive

Sunday, September 23, 2018

SUBJECT: ATLAS-CLASS FERROJACK

Sunday, September 16, 2018

SUBJECT: POTENTIAL THREAT TO SECTOR PRIMUS

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++ CLASSIFICATION: PRIMARY LEVEL INTELLIGENCE

++ CLEARANCE: OBSIDIAN

++ ENCRYPTION: CRYPTOX V2.6

++ TRANSMITTED: INQUISITORIAL BLACK SHIP THONN UNKNOWN SECTOR

++ RECEIVED: THE SPIRE HIVE PRIMUS PALATINE CLUSTER NECROMUNDA

++ DATE: 2997.999.M41

++ ASTROPATHICA: ASTROPATH CRYPTAESTHESIAN GRIEGUR

++ REF: NM/90840958940324323432/INQ

++ AUTHOR: ORDOS XENOS INQUISITOR OXADIUS DER THONN

++ SUBJECT: POTENTIAL THREAT TO SECTOR PRIMUS

++ RECIPIENT: PREFECTUS TERTIUS KLECTRUUM OF THE LOGIS STRATEGOS

++ TOD: BLIND FAITH IS JUST CAUSE

Inquisitorial records submitted by <REDACTED> regarding the heresy of Tech-Priest Biologis Hermiatus at Hive Secundus are reviewed.

Be aware Imperial Agents are operating planet-side. Investigating potential threats to Sector Primus. Assessing severity of potential threats. Identifying the Ordos required to execute actions against potential threats. Determining the force factor to exterminate potential threats.

++ THREAT ALPHA.01 ++

++ THREAT LEVEL: VERMILION ++

A party of <REDACTED> ((ALPHA.01)) were followed to Necromunda by Imperial Agent <REDACTED> ((IA.01)). Last known area of operation Sector Primus. It is speculated that the ((ALPHA.01)) are in pursuit of a party of <REDACTED> ((ALPHA.02)) which are on Necromunda. Motivation for pursuit unknown. Additional data imperative.

++ THREAT ALPHA.02 ++

++ THREAT LEVEL: VERMILION ++

It is believed ((ALPHA.02)) are in search of a cohort of Prefecture Magisterium of the Adeptus Mechanicus that made planet-fall 2977.999.M41. Motivation unknown. Additional data imperative.

++ THREAT BETA.01 ++

++ THREAT LEVEL: CIAN ++

++ POTENTIAL THREAT LEVEL: FANDANGO ++

During the investigation by Imperial Agent <REDACTED> ((IA.02)) of threat ((ALPHA.01)) and ((ALPHA.02)) it is determined there is an active cultist threat ((BETA.01)) in the south-east quadrant of Sector Primus. Heretic, Mutant or Alien origin unknown. Known entities active in south-east quadrant -- Weylan IV classification Major Settlement -- Abhuman Excavating Contractors classification Offworlder -- Wasteland Nomads/Scavengers classification non-compliant -- ((BETA.02)) see below for classification. Additional data necessary.

++ THREAT BETA.02 ++

++ THREAT LEVEL: CIAN ++

It is believed that ((BETA.02)) is a host of Orks operating out of The Skull. Origin unknown. Motivation unknown. It is surmised that the Orks are survivors of the failed invasion that rendered The Skull destroyed. Threat unconfirmed. Additional data optional.

//

Provide all data available on the vehicle type Atlas-Class Ferrojack.

Sunday, September 9, 2018

SUBJECT: SETTLEMENT WAYLEN IV

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++ CLASSIFICATION: PRIMARY LEVEL INTELLIGENCE
++ CLEARANCE: OBSIDIAN
++ ENCRYPTION: CRYPTOX V2.6
++ TRANSMITTED: THE SPIRE HIVE PRIMUS PALATINE CLUSTER NECROMUNDA
++ RECEIVED: INQUISITORIAL BLACK SHIP THONN UNKNOWN SECTOR
++ DATE: 2995.999.M41
++ ASTROPATHICA: ASTROPATH CRYPTAESTHESIAN VALION IX
++ REF: INQ/90840958940324323432/NM
++ AUTHOR: PREFECTUS TERTIUS KLECTRUUM OF THE LOGIS STRATEGOS
++ SUBJECT: RE: SETTLEMENT WAYLEN IV
++ RECIPIENT: ORDOS XENOS INQUISITOR OXADIUS DER THONN
++ TOD: AN ALIEN MIND CANNOT EXCEPT THE EMPEROR'S BLESSING

Waylen IV is a major industrial settlement southeast of Hive Primus, located outside Xenos Quarantine Zone ((XQZ)) west of the Dust Wall, which surrounds the ruins of Hive Secundus. The settlement is the epicenter of local ash crust miners and houses the major refineries for its' sector. The settlement is notedly self-sufficient, but there are trading caravans that periodically deviate from the Great Ash Road to supply the settlement with rarer or non-essential inventory. There are quarterly Goliath convoys that run refined ash crust and other minerals to Hive Primus to be shipped off world or to be used in the manufactorums.

Waylen IV previously supplied raw and refined ash crust to the hive city now known as "The Skull." which is directly south of the settlement. The Skull is a ruined hive city that has vast holes that perforate the hive structure in a manner, that from a distance, makes it appear as a colossal skull lying in a barren wasteland. The holes are the result of relentless bombardments during the suppression of an Ork invasion that besieged the city. Recently it is rumored that The Skull is home to hulking, roving nomads that terrorized caravans from their roaring ramshackle vehicles.

The inhabitants of Waylen IV are miners and refinery workers. The miners venture out, both in large parties and armed, as a result of being attacked by marauding wasteland nomads. They utilized a large variety of equipment; from heavy rock saws and heavy rock drills to the Dvarlock Pattern Mining Laser and hand-held cannons that can cause seismic tremors, all of which are so unwieldy that the miners have to take advantage of the Tertia Pattern Servo-Arm to use the equipment properly. They will mobilize in large Goliath truck convoys and set up sprawling industrial platforms that act as a headquarters and are equipped with large pile drivers. Once the opening of a new mine is excavated, they will tunnel down using Rockgrinders, a Goliath truck variant, as well as Atlas-Class Ferrojacks. Most miners are taught early on in their training on how to use blasting and demolition charges to break up stubborn sediment or run a crack through mineral veins.

Both the miners and the refiners wear rubberized canvas hazard suits with vulcanized plating, this helps protect them from various hazardous conditions and extreme atmospheric environments. The refiners are more likely mechanics, engineers and pilots for the heavy machinery and vehicles. They use Goliath trucks as transports for worker and inventory. It is common for miners to use powered picks in the subterranean caverns, while also being common for refiners to utilize powered mauls, sledges and other hammers. The refinery engineers have modified the Atlas-Class Ferrojacks with hydraulic arms to help them lift, move and load inventory.

On very rare occasion the inhabitants of the settlement are visited by contingents of the Planetary Defence Force ((PDF)), also know as the Necromundan 8th Regiment or "The Spiders." They are referred to as The Spiders because the 8th are exclusively recruited from the Spider Clan, a gang that dominates the lower levels of the Palatine Cluster. Their stylized spider tattoos, often found on their hands and face, are overt indicators of their previous gang affiliation. The closest contingent of the PDF is stationed east of the settlement on the opposite side of an acrid lake at the Dust Wall. They man the wall in hope to contain the xenos threat that overtook Hive Secundus barely a century ago. The garrison assigned to the Dust Wall is the 8th Regiment's Echo Company, which is specialized in xenos warfare and has become gravely proficient at tracking and exterminating xenos on Necromunda proper.

The calamity at Hive Secundus was the result of the hubris of the renegade Tech-Priest Biologis, Hermiatus, of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Hermiatus was experimenting on a brood of Purestrain Genestealers in hopes to find a cure for the "Genestealer's Kiss," which is the contagion administered by a Purestrain Genestealer and was the first step of infecting the population of Hive Secundus with the Genestealer taint.

Also stationed at the Dust Wall is a kill team of Imperial Fists tasked with containing the threat within, and deterring any scavengers or nomads from entering the XQZ. They are the only chapter of the Adeptus Astartes that have any association with Necromunda and they regularly recruit neophytes from the large gang population.

The settlement lacks any presence of the Adeptus Arbites and for that is often regarded as a lawless community. Despite rumors spread by scavengers and caravan traders that the inhabitants of Waylen IV are reclusive and "quite odd," there are no reports of this "lawless" settlement being either, dangerous or hostile.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Necromundan 8th Regiment "The Spiders"

As part of my project I want to model a small contingent of Guard and my inspiration goes way back. Like Rogue Trader way back.

This is the original Imperial Guard box from the Rogue Trader days. It came with 36 Guardsmen to a box. It was one of the first multi-part plastic kits. Why is this kit relevant to my project?

This is an action shot of the F Company of the Necromundan 9th Regiment. In the foreground is the Command Squad (you can tell by the yellow helmet stripe) of the commander in the gold breast plate on the far left. In the middle ground are Support Squads (blue helmet stripe) of the 2nd Platoon, represented by the bi-split banner.

This is the uniform Necromundan Imperial Guard, and according to the picture the Arcadian Imperial Guard. The 5 on the chest badge denotes the 5th Regiment, the bi-split colors signify 2nd Platoon and the A on his shoulder pad represents being a part of A company. The red helmet stripe shows that he is a member of a tactical squad. This states that Arcadia is a Hive World and references the Cult of the Spider, coincidentally the Necromundan 8th Regiment, commonly known as "The Spiders," wears the exact same uniform and and spider tattoos. The 8th Regiment recruit exclusively from the Spider Clan of Hive Palantine on Necromunda and are the acting Planetary Defense Force (PDF).

This a beautiful representation of the metal models that accompanied the plastic box set. Like in the art above, the gold breast plates represent officers and their command squads. The guardsmen in the bottom left represent Penal Legion. And yes, the guardsman in the middle is a suicide bomber, I don't think that made it into 2nd edition.

My Guard will be Echo Company 2nd Platoon of Necromundan 8th Regiment. I plan to do a full Veteran Tactical Squad, and then a few representatives of Echo Company Command Squad, 2nd Platoon Command Squad and an Infantry Tactical Squad.

I have a started collecting the bits for this project and will alternate between this and my Genestealer Cult. Coming soon there will be posts about; testing more painting techniques (when I receive my paints in the post) for my GSC, painting the Sector Mechanicus molded bases from GW (also in the post) and fluff for my GSC. I will leave you with the full art for the magazine spread above.

Are those Titans ...

Monday, August 27, 2018

crossbonesx11 learns to paint ...

I did a lot of research and consumed a lot of content in my preparation for my journey into painting. A few of my current inspirations are Uncle Atom over @ https://www.youtube.com/user/tabletopminions *pachow* and James Wappel @ https://wappellious.blogspot.com/. Also quick shout out to my long long time inspiration, the mad scientist himself KrautScientist over @ https://eternalhunt.wordpress.com/.

I have decided on a yellow and gray scheme for my GSC. I think the yellow will be a good contrast with the pinks/purples/blues of the GSC flesh and chitin. I will get more into the fluff of the cult in another post, but they are from a mining colony outside of Hive Primus on Necromunda. I want to really invoke a miner/construction worker vibe, so I am going to attempt a neon yellow suit and a sort of reflective gray for their armor. I am hoping to achieve this affect by mixing Vallejo's Fluorescent Yellow with Reaper's MSP Clear Yellow for their jumpsuits and a mixture of Reaper's MSP Pearl White and various GW grays for their armor. Thanks James for the advice!

I dug out a few old MKVII Space Marines and partially assembled them so I can ruin them trying to get the techniques mildly in control before I start painting the GSC. I primed them with Army Painter's White spray and then brushed on a thin coat of GW's Ceramite White. As it dried I started clipping, cleaning and sub-assembling the GSC. Next I mixed the fluorescent yellow and clear yellow at 2:1 and applied the first coat.

I am happy with the color, even though it is under some harsh harsh light in these photos (will look into proper lighting and photography techniques as I go). It is much more fluorescent and less warm in person. As that dried I continued prepping GSC and sprayed a few more old marines. Then I applied a second coat, mindfully thinning my paints with water even though you can still see pooling in certain areas (this will be an ongoing struggle).

I essentially achieved the look I wanted, even though it doesn't come through in the pics under the yellow light. Hopefully I will be able to get better pics going forward. I also had few paints from a failed attempt to get back into the hobby in 2016, so I decided to goof off a little with them in hopes to gain a little xp. I applied GW base paints Abaddon Black and Mephiston Red to a couple places, and after they dried, I brushed GW wash Nuln Oil over one side of the model just to experiment. The black wash on yellow looked predictably bad (unless you want a soot covered armor look) but it was the only wash I had at the time.

While packing up my work station, I realized I had a pot of GW's Lahmian Medium which I would have mixed with the Nuln Oil at 2:1 or 3:1 before applying to the one side of the model. My application of the minor colors was awful. Struggled with getting the right viscosity of the paints by thinning with water (I really hope this gets easier as I go). I think trying to paint over the fluorescent/clear mixture was also part of it as they are both high pigment high translucence paints and meant to be a top layer, not a base layer. Here are a final couple pics under a little bit better lighting.

You can see the yellow affect a little bit better. I have some more paints incoming, one of which is GW's Casandora Yellow wash that I will play around with. I am planning to buy Secret Weapon's Parchment Wash to experiment with as well. I am not sure how the fluorescent/clear mixture will react with the typical layer-wash-layer method, but we will see. Also incoming are GW's Sector Mechanicus bases, so be on the lookout for more yellow test marines and my start in molded base painting.

I used a wet palette I constructed on the sage advice of Uncle Atom. Your videos helped push me back into the deep end of the hobby!

An introduction ...

I have been into table top war-gaming since late 2nd ed of Warhammer 40000. I have been in and out several times, usually selling my collection to fund whatever my new obsession is. This time around I am back with the addition of Kill Team from Games Workshop. My favorite game of all time is Mordheim and this is the closest thing to 40k Mordheim as we have ever got (I know there is Necromunda but historically that has been very self contained, and Kill Team is closest to proper 40k skirmish).

I have been a huge collector and my preference in he hobby is kit-bashing. I find it aesthetically pleasing to take the puzzle pieces that GW gives us and come up with something inspired and original. Because of that I am not keen on sculpting or green stuff, I prefer to use what is given. I am a huge bits hoarder, in the past (pre-dependent life) I would buy entire kits for a single bit. This time around I am going to attempt to be more conservative.

I recently sold off a portion of my signed Magic: the Gathering collection to fund my foray back into the grimdark. This is the beginning of what I bought:

I played quite a bit of 3rd ed 40k, might have played a single game of 4th ed and haven't played a game since. However I collected and modeled all the way through 5th edition where my last long break started. As you can tell I am not much of a player, I am a modeler and collector (note I did not say painter, more on that later). With the release of KT, I was spurned to start looking at what GW has been producing in my absence and their recent support for supplemental games, specialist games and their renewal of old properties has sucked me in completely.

This journey will be one of nostalgia, starting with the Genestealer Cults. I am in love with these models, they are a strict counter to what GW was pushing when I left the hobby and they are also so nostalgic for me. In addition to that I was also really drawn to the current Necromunda releases, the Van Saar in particular. Following that up I wanted to play around a little with the new Primaris marines.

So as I was deciding where start I took a deep dive into the fluff and I kept ending up on the planet Necromunda. I have decided my journey will be a narrative one and will take place entirely on Necromunda. I have plans for GSC, Van Saar, Imperial Fists (which are stationed on and recruit from Necromunda (who knew?)), Adeptus Arbites and a detachment of the Necromundan 8th Regiment (The Spiders). Hazard stripes, lots and lots of hazard stripes.

I have talked about my past, my plans, nostalgia and my love for modeling, with almost no mention of painting. Historically I have hated painting. I have had several armies worth thousands of points that never had a drop of paint. This time around I am going to change that, for better or for worse. Which leads me into my next post ...