New Battlefoam Case

Everyone’s seen my custom made Blue Tub case for the Azure Flames.  I lug it around, opening doors with combinations of my foot, ass, and sheer determination.  It’s been slowly damaging several models for a long time.

No More.

My Battlefoam case has arrived.  Expensive but worth it if I never have to repair models because the case broke them.  The main XL case has synthetic canvas covering a rigid plastic shell.  Inside, the trays rest on top of each other snugly.  There were too many Azure Flames to fit in an XL case (raise your hand if you’re surprised) so I had to get a second small case.  This second case attaches to the first with a convenient zipper.  The whole case has a set of wheels and an extendable handle for easy transportation one-handed.  No more lugging around a tub!  There are even pouches for books and other things along the sides.

No one can stop me.

Modular Space Marine Vehicles

In preparation for the Big Game 5, I decided to update all of my old Rhino Chassis vehicles.  I called it the “New Rhino Chassis Project.”  Going the extra mile, I wanted to save some money and make modular vehicles that could be ANY variant of the Predator tank, or a Whirlwind.  Here’s what I did.

Two Rhino Chassis were given large Rare Earth magnets on the inside of their doors, and a Predator/Whirlwind top hatch.  I then made Predator Side Sponsons and regular doors that were magnetized.  Note that the magnet on the regular doors has since been replaced with a much smaller magnet, as it was near impossible to remove the door.

Next, the sponsons and Predator sponson guns were modified using Legos.  This lets them fit together snugly without interfering with the other magnet.  The Whirlwind Turrets were also modified with Legos so the regular and Castellan missiles could be switched out.

The Predator turrets were modified with magnets in a “clamshell” configuration to switch out the guns easily.  The ammo boxes on the back have magnets as well, letting them fit on snugly without attaching permanently.

As a result these two tanks can be ANY variant.  Las OR Autocannon Pred with HB or Las sponsons OR no sponsons.  It could also be a Whirlwind with either of the two missiles.

Getting the Band Back Together

So one day my friend Scott came up to me and said “We’re doing another Big Game a year from now.”

I don’t know how to describe what I felt next because it was a new feeling.  But it was awesome.

Here’s some history.  Our old gaming group, Studio 40K, used to play in Mary Mayo hall.  Every once in a while, we’d put on Big Games.  The first and second Big Games took place on the floor of a pole barn on my friend Jake’s parent’s christmas tree farm.  It was huge, but painful as we knelt on concrete for twelve hours.   The third was on the 4th floor of the MSU Union, and then the fourth was back in the pole barn (because it was free).  Players were divided onto the “good” and “evil” sides.

I had mixed feelings about the earlier games.  In the first I wasn’t able to do much besides make Andy’s Necrons phase out, and one of our players was kind of screwed over.  His name was also Andy and he played Dark Angels.  He was told to take a 100% deep striking force, but was forced to deep strike within 24″ of an objective, so his army was essentially deployed randomly, piecemeal, in a useless place.  He lost two units to the Perils of the Warp.  We never saw him again.  There was no fluff for this game, people just played.

In the Second big game, I was face-to-face with an outnumbering force of Eldar, and I had a mounted force ready to assault.  Sadly, I was not allowed to move on turn 1, essentially turning my vehicles to tombs.  The scenario also favored the “evil” side, as we had a Titan that was supposed to “march” to a city to liberate it.  Unfortunately you can’t march if there’s an enemy within 48″ and the Evil side had John, a Tyranid player.  His Lictors kept the titan from marching.  This game had a backstory by Joe, that an evil artifact allowed Chaos to control other evil armies.

The third was essentially twelve small games going on at once.  I faced John’s Tyranids across a “cornfield.”  These were essentially forests that you could see 12″ into instead of 6″ like normal.  However, John’s Tyranids could assault MORE than 12″.  Half of my force retreated to help another board, but we had a lot of bad matchups.  Guard vs. Necrons in the city could not pop Monoliths because they were hull down, and the Monolith blasted everything.  Dan’s Tau marched (stupidly) right up Andy’s Necrons’ throat.  Dave (former 21C manager) ran across a death field at an artillery heavy Iron Warriors army.  Comedically there was ONE mismatch the other way.  Brian’s Orks were trapped on the other side of a huge trench and were pounded by Damon’s Guard.  Sadly the good guys had one guard plauyer whose name escapes me, and he was a huge cock the whole time.  In this story, the evil sword from the first story continued to control the bad guys.  It was now wielded by an Ork Warboss!

In the fourth, the game was much more balanced.  In the end, Brian’s Ork bikers turned a Good Victory into a tie.  I remember my knees being sore, and Scott almost died.  The good guys really did not deserve to win, as we made several mistakes like deploying our Thunderhawk in the middle of the goddamn board.  The evil sword was now in the hands of the nefarious Victor Kalan.  His brother, Inquisitor Angmar Kalan, led the forces against him.  To break the tie, Victor and Angmar fought close combat.  They killed each other!  A true tie!

So that’s where I thought it would have ended.  Then Scott said that wonderful sentence.  It led me to a year of some of the most intense creativity I have ever experienced.  It also encouraged me to finish every little thing for the Azure Flames, including a bevy of named Captains.

Details on Big Game 5 to follow in a later post.

Memorable Games – The Fall of the Myridian Suns

Everyone has games that were so awesome, they’ll never forget them.  This could be because of a victory that makes a story worth telling, or a loss that is so hilarious you can’t help but smile.  I’ll be posting reports of games I’ve had that went down in the history books.

Back in the old days of Studio 40K in Mary Mayo hall, one of my fellow players was Dan.  He answered as easily to his own name as he did to “Rock Star.”  He was sort of a hipster.  He played mostly Tau, but also had a Space Marines chapter of his own making, called the Myridian Suns.  They were Sunburst Yellow with black rims and a black sun with eight rays coming out of it.  I was playing against his Myridian Suns with my Azure Flames Space Marines.

Most of the details of the battle are lost.  However one important fact was that I took a 5 man Devastator squad with 4 Lascannons, and they deployed in a central ruined building with lines of fire to many different parts of the board.  Dan got the first turn and made these Devastators a priority.  His entire army unloaded, and killed all but one Lascannon.

Undeterred, the Lascannon made his morale check and proceeded to blow up a Land Raider.

The rest of Dan’s army advanced, and my army and his slugged it out.  However, he took the loss of the Land Raider personally and chose to fire a large amount of his army at this lone Lascannon Devastator.  He amazingly survived, accounting for (by the end of the game) The Land Raider, a Dreadnought, and some Terminators.  This annoyance distracted Dan, and let me outflank him.  I named the Lascannon marine Brother Stephen and painted his shoulder rims gold and promoted him to the 1st company.  Here is a story I wrote a while ago.  After this game, Dan sold off his Myridian Suns piecemeal, and so I thought that they had turned to Chaos and been exterminated.

Brother Stephen’s service during the fall of Myridia.

The Land Raider exploded, spraying shrapnel. Stephen smiled. A bolt round ricocheted off of Stephen’s helmet. The window he was firing from partially disintegrated under the hail of fire from the traitors. Stephen calmly knelt and replaced the battery pack in his Lascannon. A groan from the corner signified that Sergeant Xin’s wound was serious but not fatal. Stephen stood and sighted for another target. He dodged to the right quickly as a Krak missile flew through the space where his head was, and blew out the ceiling three meters behind him. He sighted a Dreadnought and fired. Fire ripped through its Sarcophagus, and it collapsed in a pile of slag. He once again took cover as more of the wall disintegrated around him. The traitor chapter was throwing all their firepower at him. Stephen put that thought out of his mind, stood, and sighted once again. Five Terminators advanced on the building Stephen occupied, their garish yellow livery now decorated with signs of the ruinous powers. Stephen cursed them as he fired, and one fell. They would reach him, but he would take as many of the Myridian Suns with him as he could. The Terminator’s Storm Bolters barked fire, and Stephen had to move to the next window. Shots rang off of his greaves. Stephen uttered a prayer of thanks and fired again, felling another Terminator.

“For Atrus’ sake, get down Stephen!” Xin coughed. He seemed to be staring off into the distance. Another Krak missile blew out the wall, and Stephen had to heave a large piece of rubble off of himself.

“You should not be moving about sir. Let me take care of the traitors.” He replied.

“No, you don’t under…” he cut off, hacking blood. “…Vindicators!”

Stephen’s eyes went wide, and he gently set his Lascannon down, walked to Sergeant Xin, lifted him, and moved him to the center of the building as thunderous booms seemed to tear the world apart. Minutes later his vox link came to life.

“Surviving Azure Flames, this is Captain Valerien. Report.” Several other squads reported in. The traitors were in retreat and their lines had been shattered.

“10th squad 5th Company reporting. This is Brother Stephen. Sergeant Xin is injured and the rest of the squad is dead. We are in hab complex J on the west side of the encampment.”

“Stephen, Valerien. Confirm hab complex J?”

“Valerien, Stephen. Confirmed.”

“Excellent work, Brother. Your squad seemed to draw the fire of all the traitors at once. Your distraction allowed our Vindicators to get into position, and your fire suppressed the traitor’s advance. What was your squad’s kill count?”

“The squad took fire before we got into position. I was the only man left standing. I accounted for a Land Raider, a Dreadnought, and two Terminators.”

Silence answered.

Stephen’s vox burst with wild cheers. Stephen sat and lowered the volume on the vox. As the medivac arrived, reports had come in that the Myridian Suns’ fleet had been utterly annihilated. Stephen hefted the stretcher with Xin, and estimated that the Myridian Suns would be erased from the galaxy in two days, at most.

Zeraf Antonius, Captain of the 4th Company

Aesthetically based on my cousin Anthony, Zeraf Antonius is currently the Captain of the 4th Company of the Azure Flames, Master of the Marches.  Antonius is the youngest Marine promoted to captain, at a mere 23 years old since his actual birth, and 6 years since the implantation of the Black Carapace.

Antonius grew up on an agri-world.  It was invaded by Orks, and rescued by the Azure Flames.  Antonius was one of several youths to volunteer for service with the Chapter.  He underwent the various implantation procedures to become a Scout.  Unbeknownst to him, the gene-seed of the Chapter Master, Atrus, was extracted when he was interred in the sarcophagus of a Dreadnought.  Only one of his two gene-seeds survived.  Atrus instructed that his gene-seed be used to make Antonius a Space Marine.

Antonius’ career as a scout was full of valorous deeds.  He was one of two survivors of his Scout squad against an attack by Eldar.  He led a scout squad to victory on Morvan Prime, and discovered documents that prevented Tenkath Hive from being infiltrated by Chaos agents.  The people of Tenkath dubbed him “The Hero of Tenkath Hive.”

Antonius participated in the rite of Ascension at age 17 and was implanted with the Black Carapace.  He served in the 9th and 8th reserves, before being transferred to the 6th Tactical reserves.  He participated in the planetary assault on Arkh, and several other major battles.

Antonius was transferred into the 4th company by the direct order of Atrus during the Chasma Spica conflict.  He was part of the tactical squad that infiltrated Iperin, and took over as their sergeant when Sergeant Joseph was killed in action.  He led the 5th squad and enraged the jealousy of the Traitor Gehn, then sergeant of the 6th squad.

Antonius was part of the interdiction force on Julius when Gehn was captured and turned to the service of the dark gods.  When Captain Ganendra was killed during a bombing run in the final battle for Julius, Antonius took command of the Flames’ detachment and led them during the final victory that drove both greenskin and Chaos forces from the planet. Though reluctant to take up the axe of his former commander, Antonius was unanimously awarded command of the Fourth Company by those who remained after the war. With Atrus having met his end during the terrible battle over the city of Daskros, Antonius’ genetic heritage was finally revealed to him.

Antonius continues to lead the 4th company to victory, either from the bridge of the Strike Cruiser Honor, or on the battlefield.  He struggles with the knowledge of his origin, and the destiny that the apothecaries speak of.  They say that one day he will lead the Azure Flames, but until the “Old Man” Chapter Master Perseus dies, Antonius will remain in the office, and will continue to faithfully serve.

Antonius is a stand-in for Cato Sicarius in 40K, and commands the Strike Cruiser Honor in Battlefleet Gothic.

Index Astartes

I added a new page: the Index Astartes article for the Azure Flames.

http://fourstrandshobby.com/index-astartes-the-azure-flames/

How I got into gaming: The Azure Flames

Everyone who is a gamer gets into it somehow.  I got into it when my friend Joe invited me to a meeting of Studio 40K, the wargaming club of MSU (now defunct, different rant later).  This was in the winter of 2000/2001, early in the 3rd edition of 40K.  I picked Space Marines, specifically the Salamanders.  They had cheap Terminators and never gave up.  However, I didn’t like green marines, so I made my own successor chapter: the Azure Flames.

My first purchase was a Devastator squad.  The old pewter devastator box which had all the heavy weapons except the Multi Melta.  Actually a really bad box set, as a dev squad with those weapons was expensive and almost useless.  I learned and collected quickly though.  That following summer I followed this pattern: buy unit, paint unit, buy another unit.  I eventually had one of everything the Space Marines could take.  And I kept going.

Then, during the very last auction that Games Workshop held in its stores, I won a Blood Angels combination, consisting of Dante and some honor guard, some Death Company, and a few other things including a Baal Pred.  I made them into a Flesh Tearers army that was actually pretty impressive.  Sadly, after the advent of 4th ed, Blood Angels were vastly underpowered and I never played them.  I sold the lot bit by bit at a con.  People went nuts for the paint jobs and the custom vehicles.  My greatest pleasure was selling the remainder and the custom case to a kid who never had an army.  Made me feel good.

At this time, 4th edition was in it’s crappy heyday.  Vehicles were rolling tombs and gunline tactics were boring as hell.  That’s when my good friend Lexington got me into Warmachine.  I chose to play Cygnar, the jewel of the Iron Kingdoms.  I expanded into mercenaries, as long as they worked with Cygnar.  Warmachine and I have had an on-again off-again relationship, as Privateer Press tends to make wonderful systems and then break them with ridiculous new combos.  2nd ed is a million times better than 1st though.

Then, the newest Ork codex came out.  Orks were fun.  I toyed around with ideas and made my own “counts as” characters corresponding to all the characters in the new Codex.  I knew I had to play.  So I bought a huge amount of Orks, and made the warband of Poindexta Smartyskull, the Ork with two brains!  I did weird and ridiculous conversions and tried a new painting method: dipping.  It worked great.

Then (once again thanks to Lexington) I found the sweet, sweet crack rock of Specialist Games.  This was back in 2007, when ChaosOrc had stock.  I actually purchased enough Epic scale Space Marines to make an ENTIRE CHAPTER!  I also camped ebay for deals on some of the newer vehicles.  I played a game of Epic against Lexington’s Eldar.  Then he sold them.  Then I played one game against his new Chaos.  Then he sold them.  *sigh*  He was going through rough times.

At the same time as my Epic indulgence, I found deals on Space Marine craft for Battlefleet Gothic.  I became obsessed with rules, and made my own rules guides for Epic and Gothic.  I took the rules and condensed them down into 10 pt single spaced outlines that essentially explain all possible things.  I worked in a print shop and was able to make them into a laminated spiral bound flip chart for easy access.

Recently I’ve become a little obsessed with Specialist Games.  I had a Necromunda Orlock gang I bought at a con for a campaign that never materialized, but I bought a Delaque gang, and had my friend Jen custom make me a Necromunda board that looks fantastic.  I also painted my Battlefleet Gothic Space Marines, and bought and (almost completely) painted an Imperial Navy and a Chaos fleet.  I also recently purchased some plastic Lizardmen and Tyranid bitz to make a Lizardmen Blood Bowl team.

As you can see, I’ve got a lot on my plate.  I’ll post pictures of what I’ve done and thoughts on what I’m going to do.