Legion Imperialis Sons of Horus Thunderhawk

I’ve been painting a lot of Legion Imperialis lately.  May main faction is Sons of Horus, although I’m starting up some Solar Auxillia to have a teaching force.  I added an image gallery for LI, but I never did a post on my painting scheme, so for all of you Sons of Horses who want your XVI Legion to look snazzy, here’s how:

• Primer: Black
• Green: Basecoat Sybarite Green.  Wash with 50/50 Coelia Greenshade/Lahmian Medium.  Reinforce flat panels or areas where the wash pooled too hard with Sybarite Green.  Edge highlight Gauss Blaster Green.
• Black: Abbadon Black.  Edge highlight Warpfang Gray.
• Metal: Two Thin Coats range Sir Coates Silver either drybrushed onto black for slightly larger or isolated pieces, or painted flat and then washed with 50/50 Nuln Oil/Lahmian Medium
• Bronze: Brass Scorpion
• Red: Small areas are pure Evil Sunz Scarlet.  Larger areas or textured areas like capes are Pro Acryl White with Blood Angel Red contrast and then Trollslayer Orange on edge highlight or raised areas.  (for this Thunderhawk, the Trollslayer Orange was mixed 50/50 with Contrast Medium and lined at the bottom of the panel)
• White: Pro Acryl White (literally miraculous compared to previous white paints I’ve used)
• Bases: Primer Grey Seer.  Add Grey Seer to any place the primer didn’t hit well.  Paint metallic areas with Warplock Bronze or Sir Coates Silver.  Wash with 50/50 Nuln Oil/Lahmian Medium.  Drybrush stipple flat areas to cover up wash and make it look like concrete.  Reinforce base sides with Grey Seer.

Four Strands Re-Launch! Updates, New Novel, and Surprise Announcement!

Welcome back!  Fourstrandshobby has returned, with a new scheme same as the old scheme!

A while ago, WordPress updates made the old scheme for this site unworkable.  This was after years of hackers breaking into the site again and again.  It turns out that scheme was vulnerable.  I chose another one that was very… blue.  And ugly.  And as such I wasn’t incentivized to post.

But, thanks to Lexington, I have a new scheme that looks like the old scheme, but works with modern WordPress and is secure!

In the intervening years, I’ve been up and down, but I’ve always made time for Modeling, Painting, Gaming, and Storytelling.  I played a lot of 9th edition 40K and then 10th when it came out.

I also got into Legion Imperialis!  I have a huge Sons of Horus force that grows all the time and will soon be joined (opposed?) by a Solar Auxillia force!  Click the link below to see the brand new Image Gallery!

Legion Imperialis Image Gallery

More importantly, I’ve been writing!  Big Game V: The Battle of Iperin was a novella made of vignettes contributed by multiple people on the old BGV forums and was chiefly written by myself, Lexington, and Joe.  Big Game VI: The Omega War was a more focused narrative written by Lexington and myself.

However, the newest novella to be featured on Fourstrands is Home Fires: An Azure Flames Novel.  This finishes what I’ll refer to as the Azure Flames Omnibus at least in terms of main stories.  I also have a short story between BGV and BGVI, and I am considering another between BGVI and Home Fires to make a complete Black Library style omnibus.  Click the link below, or the one in the Features bar.

Home Fires: An Azure Flames Novel

I’ve also done several projects for the Azure Flames!  I’ll post a few pics below, but most will have their own posts soon.

But finally, and most importantly for my life, I’m getting married!  Me and my Fiancée bonded over the classic Adult Swim show: The Venture Brothers.  As such, I commissioned an expert to 3D print the Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch from their wedding.  I then painted the duo myself.

Coming up next: Legion Imperialis Thunderhawk Gunship, some Solar Auxillia, and hopefully a battle report against loyalist scum, the White Scars at AFK!

Blood Bowl Exhibition

Blood bowl league is starting up! I went to an Exhibition event to meet everyone involved.

Exhibition game was Konquata Monitors against the Thunder Dead! Sadly TWO Saurus went down for the count, and Thunder Dead won 2-1.

League starts in the new year!

Necromunda Campaign Finale – The Crucible

In the finale of our narrative campaign, the gangs are keyed into a bounty against invading Orks! Smelling a fortune to be made for whoever kills the Warboss, the gangs ambush the Orks as they try to establish a camp!

Gangs got victory points for slaying Orks. The Fighting was rough until Petra’s Ash Waste gangers shot the Warboss in the back with a missile!

Suddenly, the Gang Leaders were swallowed with white light! They were teleported to an arena!

Last one standing wins!

The fighting was fast and fierce, and the last two opponents were both limping around with flesh wounds!

Finally, Syn Decote, leader of the Field Testers, was triumphant!

***

Syn Decote wrapped his cloak around his wounds. Only his armoured undersuit had saved him from being blown apart by the Palanite Captain’s lucky bolt rounds. He slammed a painkiller and took a deep breath.

A white column of light appeared in the center of the arena. With no other options, Syn readied his plasma pistol and stepped into the light.

He appeared before the Eldar Farseer that had helped the gangers before, when they had been ambushed by the Imperial Fists. Beside him were the other two Eldar with the slim meltaguns and the fire motif on their armour. Syn narrowed his eyes, but didn’t flinch.

“Greetings, champion of Man.” the Farseer said. “I am Yrthrian Mardawn, Farseer of the Aeldari. Long have I searched for one as you. I beg you, before you leave, hear my plea. I offer a lifetime of glory, luxury, and freedom.”

Syn figured that this alien could have slagged him at any time. He could have also set him rot in that sealed off room. Despite the drills from childhood about how aliens were scum, Syn decided to give the weirdo in the tall hat a chance.

“I’ll listen.” he spat.

The Farseer motioned to the Fire Dragons: “Leave us.” Even behind their tall helmets, Syn could sense thet were confused. They left after a moment, with Syn face to face with the Farseer. He removed his tall helmet, revealing pale skin, delicate features, and pointed ears. He spoke.

“Before I ask of your skills in combat, I must explain why I have searched for you so long. The Aeldari live on ships known as Craftworlds. My Craftworld, Saim-Hann, is ruled by the most dominant family. Many years ago, I received a vision of the future. In this vision, the galaxy was rent in two and the Great Enemy you know as Chaos tore the Human Imperium apart. The Craftworlds of the Aeldari were not spared this wrath. However, under the leadership of my family, Craftworld Saim-Hann survived, and aided the humans to hold back the night.

“My family was not in a position of leadership. Therefore, I challenged the ruling family. It was decided that in ten years’ time, we would choose a champion, and these champions would duel. The winner would bring glory to the family that chose them, and that family would rule.

“I scryed the future once again, and saw this place, this Hive. Within it, I knew I would find a champion capable of the victory I needed. I searched for years, ultimately deciding on the Human known as Bull Gorg. I spirited him away from the Human authorities that hunted him, and they presumed him dead. He accompanied me to Saim-Hann. However, something happened that no one foresaw:

“Bull Gorg and the champion of the opposing family slew each other at the exact same moment. No victor could be decided. So, both families agreed to another competition in ten more years.

“This time, however, I did not search at random. I contacted Rangers who ply the webways to manipulate events. I gave aid to House Ty and fueled their ambitions for dominance. I worked with the Human Inquisitor Von Styr, pitting him against his enemies. I gave false leads to the Astartes, who came in search of their fallen brethren, only to find you. Finally, I used all the resources at my disposal to re-direct an Ork WAAAAGH, but to weaken it so that it could not destroy this place.

“All this, I have done, to turn this Hive into a crucible. To burn away the impurities and find perfection. I believe you are the champion I need to save my world.

“For your services, I will extricate you from this hellish place. I will shower you with riches, and allow you to live on my Craftworld, or on any other planet in the galaxy, barring those belonging to the Exodites. I will even pledge my Craftworld to defend your Imperium from the coming darkness.

“For this, I require you fight for me. It will not be easy. But I believe you are destined to prevail.

“What say you, Champion of man?”

Syn was in awe. This guy had so much power, and all he wanted was a fight?

Syn could fight a guy. He did it all the time.

“You got a deal.” he said, holstering his pistol and extending his hand. The Eldar looked at the hand as if it were a rat three days dead, but then seemed to steel himself and shook Syn’s hand.

“Then, you shall come with us. It is a weeklong trek in the Ash Wastes to the Webway Portal.”

“Whatever.” Syn said.

It was the last word he would speak aloud on Necromunda. He was alright with that.

Lasgun Girls and Khimerix

Finished some more painting! Here’s some gangers with Lasguns for Razor and the Scumettes!

Jennifer (the one with purple hair) is named after the only female dev for Maniac Mansion. The others (and all other gangers) are named with an automatic online Escher name generator.

Next, the fearsome (and expensive) Khimerix!

Named Weird Ed, he looks nothing like his Maniac Mansion counterpart.

Next: Alternate weapon loadouts for Wendy and Sandy, plus Juves! Also coming up, a major blowout Necromunda narrative event!

Big Necromunda Update

It’s been a while since I’ve updated due to the hectic life of a Necromunda Arbitrator. Here’s a huge dump of awesome stuff!

First, I finished Wendy and Sandy, my Champion and Specialist, with Needle Rifles.

Wendy and Sandy are, as previous characters, based on characters from Maniac Mansion:

Next, the second of the major narrative events happened for my Necromunda Campaign: Diamonds in the Sump! The leaders of the player gangs and their trusted seconds were ambushed by an Inquisitor who was an enemy of the Inquisitor that hired them for the first event! Luckily, Kal Jerico himself was there to provide an opening. The leader of the Field Testers, Syn Ducote (Van Saar) fragged the Inquisitor and made his escape! The rest of the gangs ran down a huge hallway from the Inquisitor’s private Enforcer Squad!

Finally, a shipment came in from Forge World, and I have a pair of brand new Phyrr Cats to add to battles for Razor and the Scumettes!

Next: more Necromunda including the next narrative event which will prove to be a shocker!

Edna, former nurse, current Death Maiden for Razor and the Scumettes

Edna is armed with two Stiletto Swords, and with her poison blood and a Chem Synth, she can put even the beefiest combatant on the ground.

Edna is based on Nurse Edna from Maniac Mansion:

Next, more Eschers!

Necromunda Downtime Multiplayer Game and Squad Batarian, IVth squad, VIIth Company of the Imperial Fists

This weekend was a blast! Five players (not including myself) participated in a narrative six way multiplayer battle! An Inquisitor bullied the gangs into attacking an underground prison compound. Here was the board setup:

Each player got one of the 5 tiles on the top of this picture, and their goal was to kill a specific model and open the doors in the cells at the bottom. Things began cordially, and then Dan’s Cawdor smoked one of Josh’s Goliath’s with a Krak Grenade arrow and it went downhill from there. Petra’s ash waste bug monster rampages through the halls, killing at will. Zach’s Palanite Enforcers went up the right side, smashing as they went.

All through this, odd things happened. The “Traitors” that the gangs were supposedly fighting had oddly accurate weaponry, and Matt’s gang leader, an unsanctioned psyker, found himself trying to undo warpcraft from somewhere! Further, the target was eliminated by his own plasma pistol exploding and Dan’s Cherub found something interesting on the body…

Finally, after two gangs bottled and most fighters were down, the cells were opened, to find the prisoners executed! Oh well, three players got special inquisitorial sanctions for not bottling.

After this, I managed to finish the special antagonists I’ve been working on: Squad Batarian, IVth Squad, VIIth Company of the Imperial Fists, stationed in the Necromunda Fortress Monastery.

In truth they’ve been done for a while, but I was waiting on decals. No regular Space Marine sets have black tactical arrows! I had to special order two sheets of Imperial Fist ones.

As you can see above, I did two decals, one over the other. I also added some nifty battle damage and tried to get poses to be as dynamic as I could without repeating.

Marines were sprayed Wraithbone, coated Iyanden Yellow Contrast, and then brought up with yellow and highlighted light yellow. Reds are Blood Angels Contrast. Metals are Boltgun washed with Nuln Oil. I did the bases with black spray, Boltgun, and rust pigment, stippled in places with orange. Cursive names were freehand.

Soon: more gangers and more Necromunda goodness!

Necromunda Campaign

I’ve been silent because I haven’t had a lot to share, and my site got hacked. (so much for the new servers!) However, I’m breaking silence to show off the leader of my new Necromunda gang: Razor and the Scumettes!

Yes, Razor is based on the punk rock character from Maniac Mansion. The whole gang is themed that way!

Next: more gangers! This site may also be moved to squarespace if I can’t stop it from being hacked!

Techmarine Touch-up and Multi-Melta replacement

As part of my case touchup project, I’m still doing primaris, then firstborn, then repeating, adding custom decals in between.

For my firstborn project, I wanted to do a Contemptor dreadnought, but something more immediate caught my eye.  My old Techmarine with Servo-Harness model was severely damaged in the case and needed a strong paint touch-up.

Additionally, during the Tanksgiving mega-battle, I realized one of my removable Multi-meltas for my Land Raider had been lost!  Thanks to Brian of Dice Abide and Red Wunz Go Fasta, I was able to kitbash a replacement.

Next: Infiltrators!