Sunday 10 May 2015

Epistolae Daeimonologica

--- Spectres and Effigies ---

Like all interstellar spacecraft the Star of Arlus was cushioned from the seething energies of warp space by its bubble of reality - the stasis envelope generated by the ship's warp engines. Without this barrier the Star of Arlus would be vapourised within moments. Macillan allowed his senses to absorb the flow of the warp round the ship. He felt the friction draw out the shape of the stasis envelope into an elongated tear drop. He sensed the warp close in behind the ship and the turmoil of its wake, eddies of current that sent shock waves spinning into the blackness. Amidst those eddies he could hear vague things made real by the thoughts of the crew, discorporate hopes and fears embodied within the warp and sloughed away by the ship's own passage. For a moment his own voice called to him, a thin cry of warning and terror... go back... go back... before it was swallowed forever.

He was used to such things: his own ghosts no longer unnerved him. He often wondered what happened to the spectral creatures given life and form by his own mind. Did they simply dissolve back into the warp, as was commonly supposed, or did they remain to wander through warp space forever? If so, what were they like, these creatures, dragged into life by the countless random processes of his subconscious? Sometimes a ship encountered tides of ghostly things that clawed and scrambled at the stasis envelope and sent the warp engines screaming. Were these the same kind of creatures, given life over the millennia and cast adrift on the currents of warp space. What was it they wanted? What drew them with such frenetic energy towards spacecraft? He only knew it was best not to follow the specrtres too closely with mind-sense. Sometimes he felt shadows of other predatory things that lurked in the ship's passage, attracted, he somehow felt, to the new born like sharks to the scent of blood.


[art by J. Blanche, words by W. King, © Games Workshop]
[Title added by C. Reiter]


I know, I know, wall of text. tl;dr.
But as an official background afficionado, I can only reply: deal with it :P

Seriously, though, I have been pondering this blog for some time now, pictures of converted and painted minis is all well and good, but something that is missing is more narrative, more feel, more insight into the central concepts: the Daemonic, the warp, and Chaos. So I want to change that.

To kick things off, an awesome little story from the 40k 2nd edition wargear book, by Bill King. I just re-read all the background from 2nd and 3rd edition, and rediscovered some real gems in the process. In the long run, I want to write most pieces here myself, but I will also throw in the occasional bit from other authors.


What do you think? 
Do you guys care at all?  
Or do you automatically skip any text passage longer than 4-5 lines in a blog?
Let me know... 

Friday 1 May 2015

The (International) Herald Tribune

Last week, I decided I needed some Nurgle Heralds on foot. Just basic stuff. No huge, all-conquering awe-inspiring Greater Daemon or Daemon Prince, just some lowly little Heralds. I figured I want some low-level characters for more low-level armies.

Also, thanks to the Daemonic Table, you can never tell when an enemy psyker gets his mind fried and you get a free Herald dropping out of the ether. Better be prepared for the occasion, as it would surely be considered rude not to take advantage of free models...

I wasn't really happy with my initial efforts though:


In the end, I decided it was the head, tore it off again and came up with a new version I prefer by far:



Obviously, I still need to do all the greenstuffing, but I think the basic concept is very sound.
Oh, and the model isn't small, it's just standing on a 40mm base. I was never really happy with the official concept of Heralds just being slightly beefed-up regular troopers, I always thought they should stand out, so they should be discernibly larger and certainly get a base upgrade.


I actually can't remember where I got the antlers from, but I really like them as they feel so Nurgly...


+++


So, when I said some Heralds, I wasn't exaggerating, I was working on two of the dudes at the same time. However, I was even less content with where the second Herald was going, so I disassembled it completely and now am left with just the bare bones of a model:



Still a long way to go, obviously...